More Time for
What Matters
Florida Medicaid Applications. Experienced Help From Start to Finish.
Senior Care Resources helps Florida families obtain long-term care Medicaid benefits through professional application preparation and management.
It starts with a free Medicaid assessment, reviewed personally by our staff, so you know where you stand before you apply.
Serving families in all 67 Florida counties for nursing home, assisted living, and home care Medicaid, by phone, video, and in person in Southwest Florida.
A Trusted Resource
for Families Since 2007
In Florida Since 2025
Experienced Medicaid Team
with Legal Support
When Needed
Your Goals Matter
Preserve What You Can.
Get the Care You Need.
Senior Care Resources was founded in Pennsylvania in 2007 by Carl B. Zacharia, an elder law attorney admitted to The Florida Bar in 1995, and has served Florida families since 2025.
Transparent pricing
Professional Medicaid Application Management — $3,500 Flat Fee
The first step, a Medicaid assessment, is free and carries no obligation. If you then want us to handle the application, full application management is a separate paid service with one flat fee of $3,500, agreed in writing before any work begins.
STEP ONE
Medicaid assessment
Free
A short two-page intake form, emailed to you
Reviewed personally by a member of our staff
A call to go over where things stand and what comes next
No cost and no obligation
IF YOU WANT US TO HANDLE IT
Application management
$3,500 flat fee
A document checklist built for your situation, and help collecting it
Preparing and filing the application with DCF
Acting as your designated representative with the caseworker
Coordinating the CARES medical assessment
Answering DCF's requests and following the case to a decision
Explaining the decision and what the annual renewal will need
Not included in the flat fee
Legal services, such as drafting a Qualified Income Trust, advice about gifts or transfers made in the last five years, planning to protect a spouse’s assets, changes to a deed, and appeals of a denial. When a case needs that work, it is provided by Zacharia Frey PLLC under a separate engagement with its own fee, and we tell you up front. No one can guarantee approval: DCF decides every application.
Who stands behind us
Founded by an Experienced Florida Elder Law Attorney
Senior Care Resources was founded and is owned by Carl B. Zacharia, a Florida elder law attorney with more than 30 years of experience. He was admitted to The Florida Bar in 1995 and has spent his career helping families plan for and pay for long-term care.
Carl is a founding partner of Zacharia Frey PLLC, the affiliated elder law firm in Bonita Springs, Florida. When a family’s situation calls for legal services, the firm is available under a separate engagement with its own fee. Using Senior Care Resources does not require you to hire the law firm.
Important disclosure
This is general information, not legal advice, and nothing here creates an attorney-client relationship.
Senior Care Resources, LLC is not a law firm, and its Medicaid application services are not legal services. Using Senior Care Resources does not create an attorney-client relationship with Carl B. Zacharia or with Zacharia Frey PLLC, and the protections of that relationship, including the attorney-client privilege, do not apply to those services. An attorney-client relationship with Zacharia Frey PLLC begins only when you and the firm sign a separate written engagement agreement.
WRITTEN BY OUR FOUNDER
Florida Long-Term Care and Medicaid
A Family’s Guide to Finding, Getting, and Paying for Good Care · 2026 Edition
Planning for long-term care in Florida is not only about finding good care. It is about protecting the people you love, and making decisions before a health crisis becomes a financial one.
The book explains the long-term-care system in plain English: choosing the right care setting, who pays and when Medicare does not, Florida Medicaid’s income and asset rules, homestead protections, powers of attorney, spend-down planning, and Qualified Income Trusts. Written for families, not for lawyers.
Available in paperback and Kindle.
Peace of Mind
for What's Ahead
FLORIDA MEDICAID FOR LONG-TERM CARE
Understand the Rules.
Know Your Options. Get a Plan.
Medicaid has very specific rules, and a small mistake can be costly. We help you understand how the rules apply to your situation and create a step-by-step plan to move toward eligibility and a successful application.
Assets, income, and countable vs. non-countable assets
Qualified Income Trust (QIT) requirements
Power of attorney review (and when guardianship may be needed)
5-year lookback transfers
A clear plan for what needs to be done and how to do it
YOU’RE NOT ALONE
We’re here to guide you through the confusion, answer your questions, and help you move forward with clarity and confidence.
Compassion.
Knowledge.
A Plan.
PLAIN-ENGLISH ANSWERS
Florida Medicaid Guides
Medicaid application help for nursing home and assisted living care anywhere in Florida. Founded by an elder law attorney in 2007, flat fee $3,500.
The 2026 Florida long-term care Medicaid figures: $2,982 income cap, $2,000 asset limit, $162,660 spouse allowance, $10,645 penalty divisor, $752,000 home equity limit.
When a Florida Medicaid applicant needs a Qualified Income Trust, what it must contain, how much to deposit each month, and the mistakes that cost a month of coverage.
How Florida's 60-month look-back works, how the penalty is calculated with the $10,645 divisor, which transfers are exempt, and what to do about a gift already made.
Which assets Florida Medicaid counts, which are exempt, and the lawful ways to spend down to the $2,000 limit without triggering a transfer penalty.
How Florida Medicaid pays for assisted living and home care through the SMMC Long-Term Care program, how the wait list and priority scoring work, and how to get on it.
The Florida nursing home Medicaid application start to finish: the CARES assessment, the documents DCF requires, filing through ACCESS Florida, the 45-day clock, and appeals.
What a spouse keeps when the other applies for Florida nursing home Medicaid: the $162,660 resource allowance, the $2,705 to $4,066.50 income allowance, the home, and spousal refusal.
When a Medicaid application service is enough, when a Florida elder law attorney is necessary, what each costs, and how a service founded by an attorney bridges the two.
Medicare pays for rehab, not long-term nursing home care. What Medicare, Medigap and Medicare Advantage cover, when Florida Medicaid takes over, and why to apply before Medicare stops.
Medicaid Help in Every Florida County
We work with families in all 67 Florida counties by phone, video, and secure document upload, and in person in Southwest Florida. Each region has its own aging-services agency and its own wait list for assisted living and home care:
- Southwest FloridaFort Myers, Naples, Cape Coral
- Tampa BayTampa, Brandon, Plant City
- Pasco and Pinellas CountiesSt. Petersburg, Clearwater, Largo
- Central FloridaOrlando, Winter Park, Sanford
- North Central Florida and The VillagesGainesville, Ocala, The Villages
- Northeast FloridaJacksonville, Jacksonville Beach, St. Augustine
- North Florida and the Big BendTallahassee, Panama City, Panama City Beach
- Northwest Florida and the PanhandlePensacola, Milton, Navarre
- Palm Beach and the Treasure CoastWest Palm Beach, Boca Raton, Delray Beach
- Broward CountyFort Lauderdale, Hollywood, Pembroke Pines
- Miami-Dade and the Florida KeysMiami, Miami Beach, Hialeah
Common Questions About Florida Medicaid
Who can help me get Medicaid for a parent in a Florida nursing home?
Senior Care Resources manages Florida long-term care Medicaid applications for families in all 67 Florida counties, from a free Medicaid assessment through approval. It is a Medicaid application service founded by elder law attorney Carl B. Zacharia, not a law firm. Families work with it by phone, video, and secure document upload, and in person in Southwest Florida from its Bonita Springs office. If your parent is in rehab under Medicare now, read when Medicare stops paying and who pays next.
How much does help with a Florida Medicaid application cost?
Senior Care Resources charges a flat fee of $3,500 to manage a Florida long-term care Medicaid application through approval. The Medicaid assessment that comes first is free.
What are the Florida Medicaid income and asset limits for long-term care in 2026?
In 2026, a Florida long-term care Medicaid applicant may have gross income of up to $2,982 a month and countable assets of up to $2,000. An applicant whose income is over the cap can still qualify by setting up and funding a Qualified Income Trust. A spouse who stays at home may keep up to $162,660 in countable assets.
Does Florida Medicaid pay for assisted living and care at home?
Yes. Nursing home care is covered through the Institutional Care Program (ICP). Care in an assisted living facility or at home is covered through the Statewide Medicaid Managed Care Long-Term Care program (SMMC LTC), which has a wait list ranked by need and pays for care services but not for an assisted living facility's room and board. Some Florida regions also have PACE (Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly), another way to receive care at home, whose financial eligibility follows the same rules as the Institutional Care Program (ICP). The income and asset limits are the same for all three.
How far back does Florida Medicaid look at gifts and transfers?
Florida Medicaid reviews the 60 months before the application, known as the five-year look-back. A gift or a sale for less than fair value made in that period can cause a penalty period during which Medicaid will not pay for care. The length of the penalty is the amount transferred divided by $10,645, the figure Florida uses for one month of nursing home care.
Is Senior Care Resources a law firm?
No. Senior Care Resources is a separate company from Zacharia Frey PLLC, and its Medicaid application services are not legal services. When a family's situation calls for legal judgment, such as transfers of assets, trusts, spousal refusal, or an appeal, that work is handled by an elder law attorney under a separate engagement with the law firm.