Who runs MedicaidChecklist

“I built this after my own family went through it: a sudden hospital discharge, a stack of forms, and no idea which of my grandfather's records the caseworker would ask for.”

Why this exists

Nobody in our family knew what a “lookback period” was until a caseworker asked for five years of my grandfather's bank statements. We weren't eligible-or-not — we were disorganized, and disorganized costs months. The rules were all public. What didn't exist was one place that said: here is the list, here are the forms, here is the order, here is what will trip you up.

MedicaidChecklist exists because the gap between “free generic information” and a $3,000–$15,000 elder-law engagement is exactly where most families get stuck. We prepare and organize; we don't advise. Every number in every packet is cited to the official state source and dated, so you can verify all of it yourself.

A bit about me

I'm a software engineer, and Ann Arbor, Michigan is home — it's where my roots are and where I run Dixon Development, LLC, the small software company behind MedicaidChecklist. I've spent the last decade building and shipping software, from low-level systems work to the production web applications and infrastructure that businesses run on. This isn't a side project spun up by an anonymous team; it's built and maintained by me, under my own name, in my own town.

Being local matters more than it might sound. Michigan is where our family went through this process — the MDHHS forms, the MI Bridges portal, the deductible spend-down rules — so Michigan's packet is the one I check by hand against my own experience, and the standard every other state's packet is held to: current limits, real form numbers, and links to the official source for each one.

Raised by lawyers

I'm not a lawyer — but I was raised by them. My mom is a practicing attorney. My aunt is a retired estate planner. And my grandfather — the same one whose hospital discharge started all of this — was the lawyer who started the family tradition in the first place. Dinner-table conversation in our house covered wills, trusts, and what happens to families who wait too long to plan.

So here's what I actually believe, having watched it from both sides: lawyers are worth it. A good elder-law attorney earns their fee many times over on a hard case. But attorneys bill by the hour, and most of an expensive engagement is spent doing what a prepared family could have done first — gathering the records, learning the vocabulary, figuring out which questions even matter. Walk in organized, with your documents assembled and your red flags already identified, and the same attorney costs a fraction of the price. That's the whole idea behind the packet: it doesn't replace the lawyer, it makes the hour you pay for count.

The promises we make

• We are not affiliated with any government agency, and we'll never imply otherwise.
• We never ask for Social Security numbers, account numbers, or exact balances.
• The eligibility check is free and anonymous — no email, no account.
• 30-day money-back guarantee on the packet, no questions asked.

Reach me directly

Questions, corrections, or just want to confirm a real person answers? Email hello@medicaidchecklist.com — it comes straight to me, and I read every message.