What We Do

Senior Care Resources (SCR) does not provide legal advice. You will see references to legal matters but those matters are handled separately by the law firm that founded us and its founding attorney, Carl Zacharia. SCR is the owner of Medicaid In A Minute. In addition, for the past 19 years, SCR has been helping families navigate the complex process of applying for long-term-care Medicaid. Whether your loved one has just entered a nursing facility or you are planning ahead, we provide the expertise and hands-on support to guide you through every step — from the initial screening to a final determination. Below is an overview of the services we offer.

1. Medicaid in a Minute

Senior Care Resources is the creator of Medicaid in a Minute, a screening tool built from over 30 years of hands-on Medicaid application experience. Medicaid in a Minute walks you through a series of straightforward questions about your situation and delivers an immediate, personalized snapshot of your eligibility — highlighting potential obstacles, common pitfalls, and opportunities to protect additional assets for the family.

For families facing the sudden reality of a nursing home admission, time is critical and mistakes are costly. Medicaid in a Minute gives you clarity before you commit to a course of action — so you can understand where you stand, what issues may need attention, and whether professional guidance could make the difference between a smooth approval and a devastating denial.

People use our expertise to help assure they obtain eligibility for their loved one. We gather from the family the information and documentation needed for the Medicaid application. We then organize the materials, prepare the application and submit the application to the Florida Department of Children and Families.

Along with a primary family member, the case manager for Senior Care Resources then acts as the representative of the applicant and family. We will file appeals and participate in the entire process including interviews and hearings until a final determination is made.

2. Manage the Medicaid Application Process

Most people have never had to apply for Medicaid before. The process can be daunting. There are several forms that must be completed, copies of back up documentation such as five years of bank and financial accounts statements, income statements, life insurance, citizenship cards and more that are all part of the application.

You may have heard the stories about people losing their homes, their life savings, getting sued by nursing homes, and the like. While Senior Care Resources was founded by elder law attorneys, the case managers are not attorneys and do not give specific legal advice. However, they have been trained to understand these rules and identify when and where there might be a problem or an opportunity and inform the client to seek legal advice from an elder law attorney. The problems would be issues that might cause a period of ineligibility. There are opportunities as well. In some cases, assets, including the family home, might be protected and exempt from the five year lookback.

Senior Care Resources vs. an Elder Law Attorney

While both Senior Care Resources and elder law attorneys help families navigate the Medicaid application process, there are important differences in their roles and services. Senior Care Resources specializes exclusively in managing the Medicaid application process from start to finish. Our case managers gather documentation, prepare applications, and serve as your representative throughout the entire process.

Elder law attorneys provide legal advice and can assist with complex estate planning, asset protection strategies, and legal issues that may arise during the application process. While we are not attorneys and do not provide legal advice, our case managers are trained to identify potential issues or opportunities that may require legal counsel, and we will recommend you seek advice from an elder law attorney when appropriate. Many families use both services: an elder law attorney for legal planning and Senior Care Resources to handle the administrative details of the Medicaid application.

Senior Care Resources was founded by long-established elder law attorney Carl Zacharia, the founder of Zacharia Brown & Bratkovich. Mr. Zacharia has been practicing Elder Law in Pennsylvania and Florida for over 30 years. While technically Senior Care Resources does not provide legal services and their attorneys do not automatically represent you, when there is a legal issue that comes up with your case, the staff at Senior Care Resources has access to Mr. Zacharia and other elder law attorneys at the firm to identify and work to resolve the issue. Your are not receiving legal advice from Mr. Zacharia nor his law firm. However, the staff at Senior Care Resources, most of whom have 20 years or more experience, have been trained by Mr. Zacharia and have access to him and the other lawyers at Zacharia Brown and Bratkovich to quickly identify and quantify legal issues and opportunities met in the process of examining your application.

The Cost

The cost of the services provided by Senior Care Resources comes completely from spenddown. This cost is normally not an additional cost to you. Many, if not most Medicaid applications have a spenddown. Spenddown is the requirement that an applicant have only a limited amount of funds before being eligible for Medicaid. The charge is $3,600. This is the equivalent of about nine (9) days of nursing home care.

So, instead of paying the nursing home and going through the Medicaid application alone, you may get Medicaid benefits nine (9) days sooner and have an experienced person oversee and manage your entire application. An appropriate analogy is that you can rent a car and try driving through the jungle on your own, or you can hire an experienced guide to show you the way and drive you there.