Medicaid Nursing Home Application Kit: 5-Year Lookback Checklist, Spend Down List & Spousal Protection Worksheet

When a parent suddenly needs a nursing home, families hit three walls at once: Medicaid's 5-year (60-month) lookback, confusing spend-down rules, and the fear that the at-home spouse loses everything. The free layer is fragmented state pages; the paid layer starts at $3,000 elder-law engagements. This kit is the organize-and-understand layer in between.

WHAT'S INSIDE (instant digital download — 7 components + tracker):
- Eligibility Decoder — the three tests + countable vs. exempt assets, with a state-pointer table to your state's current figures
- 5-Year Lookback Documentation Checklist — what caseworkers actually flag (transfers below fair market value, undocumented cash withdrawals), organized by asset class, with a 60-month statement-assembly tracker spreadsheet
- Spend-Down Allowable-vs-Penalized Decision List — what their money can legitimately be spent on before eligibility
- CSRA / Spousal-Protection Worksheet — the federal community-spouse framework (CSRA + MMMNA) step by step, with state pointers for current-year figures
- Application Evidence Binder Framework — the ten-tab binder every application needs
- Denial / Fair-Hearing Deadline Pointer — the first 48 hours after a denial
- Attorney-Escalation Checklist — the exact situations (gifting, trusts, annuities, promissory notes, penalty math) where you stop DIY and retain an elder-law attorney

Federal-framework based (42 U.S.C. 1396p) with state pointers — Medicaid is state-administered, so your state's current figures and forms govern. Educational templates and checklists only — NOT legal advice, not a substitute for an elder-law attorney, and no outcome is guaranteed.