Many senior citizens faced with the crushing cost of long-term custodial care at home or in a nursing home turn to the Medicaid program for relief. Many non-lawyers advertise that they can render advice on Medicaid eligibility issues, in addition to filing the application. The stakes are high. A mistake by a non-lawyer could easily lead to a Medicaid application being rejected and an individual being exposed to financial ruin or being denied needed medical care.
Complexity of Medicaid
The overwhelming complexity of the Medicaid program has been recognized by the U.S. Supreme Court. “The Social Security Act is among the most intricate ever drafted by Congress. Its Byzantine construction, as Judge Friendly has observed, makes the Act ‘almost unintelligible to the uninitiated.’”1
