An article out of New York State today discusses the current regulations for the Medicaid "look back" period for transferring assets.  Before making any financial decisions regarding taxes or Medicaid, contact an attorney and have them review current law and your particular situation.

In the article, an elder lawyer was talking about how under current interpretations of Medicaid's look back period, and after a clarification memo issued by the Office of Health Insurance Programs to New York's Medicaid directors on Sept. 24, 200, it appears that the look back period is just one month at this point.

About Medicaid 

Medicaid is widely misunderstood by the public.  The long term care component of Medicaid is designed for the impoverished, and virtually all assets must be spent down before people can qualify.  In short, if you have assets and are concerned about keeping them, having long term care insurance rather than relying on Medicaid would be a much better course of action.