The attorney filing an initial application for Medicaid home care benefits must gather a plethora of documents to prove eligibility (passport; birth certificate; marriage certificate or divorce decree or death certificate of spouse; lease or deed or coop stock certificate; utility bill; Social Security card; Medicare card; supplemental health insurance card; Social Security award letter; pension statement; supplemental health insurance premium coupon and current financial statements). For a Medicaid nursing home application, in addition, monthly statements for the preceding five years will also be required. These documents can run into the hundreds and even thousands of pages.

It is discouraging to then wait months for a decision on the application. It is even more dispiriting to receive a notice from Medicaid that the application has been denied. It is especially disheartening when the denial is based upon an agency mistake. Many of these errors are the result of routine agency oversights such as account balance not being read correctly; the same account counted twice; or an exempt retirement account counted as non-retirement.