Crisis Planning / Half-a-Loaf
What elder-law attorneys use when care is already needed with no advance plan — Medicaid Compliant Annuities, promissory notes, spousal refusal.
Care Needed Now
Care is needed now.
Care is needed now.
Here's what still works.
A hospital discharge is being planned, a facility decision is imminent, or home care has already started. Advance-planning tools that need 5+ years are largely off the table — but real options remain, and the choices made in the next 30–90 days matter more than at any other stage.
Pillars Most Relevant to This Stage
The funding options worth your time right now
These aren't the only pillars that could ever apply — they're the ones most likely to be relevant given this timeline. The Journey Assessment can confirm which fit your exact situation.
VA Aid & Attendance
A monthly pension benefit add-on for wartime-era veterans and surviving spouses who need help with activities of daily living — chronically under-claimed.
Medicaid (Baseline)
The nation's largest long-term-care payer, covering six in ten nursing home residents — with strict, state-specific asset and income tests.
Medicare & Skilled-Need Coverage
Covers up to 100 days of skilled nursing after a qualifying hospital stay, limited home health, and hospice — not custodial long-term care.
Worked example: see how this plays out for a specific family in
an 82-year-old Florida veteran with $600,000 in assets who needs nursing home care now.
A Reasonable Timeline
What to do, and by when
This week
Consult a certified elder-law attorney in your state. Crisis planning has a narrow window and every day can matter.
Within 30 days
Gather five years of financial records — required for any Medicaid application. Verify veteran status if applicable.
Within 60–90 days
Execute the plan the attorney recommends. Position assets. Submit applications.
Get a Shortlist Specific to You
This page is a stage.
This page is a stage.
The assessment is your situation.
Twelve questions about your specific age, health, assets, home, marital status, and veteran status — then a ranked shortlist of the pillars that actually apply to you.