Asset Transfers That Would Allow Elderly To Qualify For Medicaid Rare, GAO Finds

Most nursing home residents are unlikely to have sold off assets below market value to qualify for long-term care coverage from Medicaid, according to a Government Accountability Office report released on Thursday, CongressDaily reports. Because of concerns that the practice might be widespread, Congress in 2006 passed a provision in the budget reconciliation law to expand from three years to five years the "look back" period in which seniors who transfer their assets at less than market value are ineligible for Medicaid.