If her mom doesn't have any assets or annuities, I think her odds are good, since it's generally "need based", with a Medicare plan. This is assuming she's in the US and gets medicare. Unfortunately neither my dad, who has a meager annuity and owns a house, nor my friend's grandma, who owns a house and gets a small military pension, qualified. Poor folks with assets are screwed, it seems, when it comes to getting Medicare to pay for elder care. Fingers crossed for OP's mom!
If her mom does have anything like the two examples I gave, OP should talk to someone who specializes in getting people approved for Medicaid, by moving around assets, before having any meeting to determine their eligibility for home health care. Once they're Medicaid eligible, a lot of new doors open up. I haven't done that yet and my mom is reluctant to try it for my dad, because she thinks it sounds too complicated. My mom thinks a lot of simple things sound too complicated though.
$20k is steep. I'm currently spending $8250 and am adding in 2 8 hour shifts care giver for an addition $2k/month. But Dad has good investments for which I am VERY thankful.
I'm struggling with all of this too. But not having any assets might help you. Get her on Medicaid.
The problem I'm having with my dad is that he does have assets. The house is in both of my parents' name. And we're not sure how Medicaid would affect the house. I don't believe they would kick us out, they might put a lean on it or some kind of millers trust something that says that they'll get the house eventually.
I've seen some comments suggesting you can just drop someone off at the ER and then refuse to pick them up. If they have absolutely nothing and no one then the hospital would be forced to contact social services, who would assign them a social worker, for them make the arrangements to get them on Medicaid and get them in a home
The problem with Medicaid is that very few facilities and businesses will accept Medicaid for the kind of treatment that most Alz patients require. We recently moved my dad from a memory care unit which was private pay, to skilled nursing which is Medicaid.
Medicaid won't take the house. You are allowed a house, a car, etc. The person with Medicaid isn't allowed more than something like $1600 in the bank though. The government will be taking the SS and any other income. It will affect your mom though. I don't know what state you're in, but if your parents have any reasonable assets, you should talk to an elder care lawyer, they will tell you what is best.
I know in our state there were a few things that my mother could do to protect some assets, there was a lot of things that had to be moved around, but it ended up being worth it.
Hospice and then medicaid. Depends where you are, medicaid will cover facility costs. Can't have more than 2k in assets and they look back 5 years of her finances.
Hospice is covered by Medicare but the person must medically qualify for the need for it.
Medicaid is for those who essentially have no assets. You must qualify for the financial and medical need both.
Right before my Dad passed away, I moved him to a nursing home and applied for Medicaid for him. He wouldn’t have gotten it due to retirement income but the nursing home calculated the rate and it was much much lower than what we paid for assisted living. I had no idea. I always thought that you’d be stuck paying the difference but that is not the case. Long story short, talk to the financial office at some nursing homes and they will be able to work it out for you as they are experts in that and do a great job. I had to open a durable trust account for him but it was smooth sailing after that.
Medicaid. When my mom (who also had no assets going in) went into memory care, the administrator at the facility said “everyone always ends up on Medicaid unless you’re independently wealthy”. She was fantastic, and helped us apply for it - we were then assigned to a great case worker who was immensely helpful.
ETA: Medicaid does not pay for assisted living.
Medicaid is a state-federal partnership. In some states, it does pay for some levels of Assisted Living or Memory Care. In others, it only pays for a Skilled Nursing Facility. This is why it’s confusing to us all, because it varies by state. And even then, at any particular time, there may be a shortage of Medicaid beds.
My dad was on Medicaid for his last years - he needed a full-time nursing facility and the facility was super helpful in getting him set up. But I'm not finding help for memory care to be as easy.
Senior Care Consultants in Florida helped me find a place that takes Medicaid and SS
Don’t use A Place For Mom they don’t “deal with “ Medicaid patients. I got hung up on
But then did you get a million calls from a place for mom afterwards anyway or just never hear from them again? Being hung up on and never hearing from them again beats not getting any help and then getting incessantly spam called.
Aha! So, next time they call, I will pick up and say, "Hey Q (My A Place for Mom "advocate" has the name of a Star Trek villain), I've got one word for you: Medicaid". That is such a good thing to know!!!
My dad's on Medicaid (Medi-Cal here in California) He was recently admitted to long term care in a nursing home, having been admitted after a fall. I'm working to get him into assisted living with something called an Assisted Living Waiver. It's a California state program financed by Medicaid I believe. His social security will be almost entirely garnished to offset Medicaid nursing/assisted living costs.
I got the power of attorney for healthcare and durable POA a couple of years ago on my boss's advice. It's been pretty crucial.
We're driving up to where he lived to close up his apartment this weekend. He doesn't even really remember that he had another apartment....
I'm looking into the waiver, and finding that it can cover some part of care and a small number of facilities, but there's still a big gap. FL and IL are my two options, not finding either to be particularly robust.
States who accepted Medicaid Expansion will have more options. Florida is not one.
https://www.kff.org/affordable-care-act/issue-brief/status-of-state-medicaid-expansion-decisions-interactive-map/
Alzheimer's qualifies for hospice care, even without that 6 month prognosis. I just learned about it. Ask her doctor about it. You get all the resources at home (or a facility?)... covered by insurance.
She's in a private pay assisted living facility, in technically independent living ATM. It costs ~$3k/month... Which we are able to make work through her SS and my covering the difference. But they don't accept Medicare/aid and as she needs more care the costs will double/triple and I need another option.
Does her insurance cover a home health aide? Check into that. Really understand what her health insurance covers.
This is interesting. Will be looking into this further. Thanks.
If her mom doesn't have any assets or annuities, I think her odds are good, since it's generally "need based", with a Medicare plan. This is assuming she's in the US and gets medicare. Unfortunately neither my dad, who has a meager annuity and owns a house, nor my friend's grandma, who owns a house and gets a small military pension, qualified. Poor folks with assets are screwed, it seems, when it comes to getting Medicare to pay for elder care. Fingers crossed for OP's mom!
If her mom does have anything like the two examples I gave, OP should talk to someone who specializes in getting people approved for Medicaid, by moving around assets, before having any meeting to determine their eligibility for home health care. Once they're Medicaid eligible, a lot of new doors open up. I haven't done that yet and my mom is reluctant to try it for my dad, because she thinks it sounds too complicated. My mom thinks a lot of simple things sound too complicated though.
We spent 20,000 a month on private care. The only way it's possible is through my late dad's very productive business career
Yikes. That's so much.
$20k is steep. I'm currently spending $8250 and am adding in 2 8 hour shifts care giver for an addition $2k/month. But Dad has good investments for which I am VERY thankful.
I'm struggling with all of this too. But not having any assets might help you. Get her on Medicaid. The problem I'm having with my dad is that he does have assets. The house is in both of my parents' name. And we're not sure how Medicaid would affect the house. I don't believe they would kick us out, they might put a lean on it or some kind of millers trust something that says that they'll get the house eventually. I've seen some comments suggesting you can just drop someone off at the ER and then refuse to pick them up. If they have absolutely nothing and no one then the hospital would be forced to contact social services, who would assign them a social worker, for them make the arrangements to get them on Medicaid and get them in a home
Get the house put in your name. Talk to someone who specializes in getting people Medicaid approved.
The problem with Medicaid is that very few facilities and businesses will accept Medicaid for the kind of treatment that most Alz patients require. We recently moved my dad from a memory care unit which was private pay, to skilled nursing which is Medicaid. Medicaid won't take the house. You are allowed a house, a car, etc. The person with Medicaid isn't allowed more than something like $1600 in the bank though. The government will be taking the SS and any other income. It will affect your mom though. I don't know what state you're in, but if your parents have any reasonable assets, you should talk to an elder care lawyer, they will tell you what is best. I know in our state there were a few things that my mother could do to protect some assets, there was a lot of things that had to be moved around, but it ended up being worth it.
I’ve been winging it the last seven years. I think I have Alzheimer’s now too.
hugs to you...this disease is so hard on the care givers.
Hospice and then medicaid. Depends where you are, medicaid will cover facility costs. Can't have more than 2k in assets and they look back 5 years of her finances.
Hospice doesn't pay for memory care/assisted living though.
Hospice is covered by Medicare but the person must medically qualify for the need for it. Medicaid is for those who essentially have no assets. You must qualify for the financial and medical need both.
I'm aware, I've been through this twice. Hospice covers alzheimers care.
Right before my Dad passed away, I moved him to a nursing home and applied for Medicaid for him. He wouldn’t have gotten it due to retirement income but the nursing home calculated the rate and it was much much lower than what we paid for assisted living. I had no idea. I always thought that you’d be stuck paying the difference but that is not the case. Long story short, talk to the financial office at some nursing homes and they will be able to work it out for you as they are experts in that and do a great job. I had to open a durable trust account for him but it was smooth sailing after that.
Medicaid. When my mom (who also had no assets going in) went into memory care, the administrator at the facility said “everyone always ends up on Medicaid unless you’re independently wealthy”. She was fantastic, and helped us apply for it - we were then assigned to a great case worker who was immensely helpful. ETA: Medicaid does not pay for assisted living.
Medicaid is a state-federal partnership. In some states, it does pay for some levels of Assisted Living or Memory Care. In others, it only pays for a Skilled Nursing Facility. This is why it’s confusing to us all, because it varies by state. And even then, at any particular time, there may be a shortage of Medicaid beds.
My dad was on Medicaid for his last years - he needed a full-time nursing facility and the facility was super helpful in getting him set up. But I'm not finding help for memory care to be as easy.
I guess it unfortunately depends on how good the business office staff is...
Senior Care Consultants in Florida helped me find a place that takes Medicaid and SS Don’t use A Place For Mom they don’t “deal with “ Medicaid patients. I got hung up on
But then did you get a million calls from a place for mom afterwards anyway or just never hear from them again? Being hung up on and never hearing from them again beats not getting any help and then getting incessantly spam called.
I did get million calls after my online questionnaire but as soon as I said Medicaid that was the end of it.
Aha! So, next time they call, I will pick up and say, "Hey Q (My A Place for Mom "advocate" has the name of a Star Trek villain), I've got one word for you: Medicaid". That is such a good thing to know!!!
Yes as the Borg Queen I say it to be true.
My dad's on Medicaid (Medi-Cal here in California) He was recently admitted to long term care in a nursing home, having been admitted after a fall. I'm working to get him into assisted living with something called an Assisted Living Waiver. It's a California state program financed by Medicaid I believe. His social security will be almost entirely garnished to offset Medicaid nursing/assisted living costs. I got the power of attorney for healthcare and durable POA a couple of years ago on my boss's advice. It's been pretty crucial. We're driving up to where he lived to close up his apartment this weekend. He doesn't even really remember that he had another apartment....
I'm looking into the waiver, and finding that it can cover some part of care and a small number of facilities, but there's still a big gap. FL and IL are my two options, not finding either to be particularly robust.
States who accepted Medicaid Expansion will have more options. Florida is not one. https://www.kff.org/affordable-care-act/issue-brief/status-of-state-medicaid-expansion-decisions-interactive-map/
Elderaffairs.org
I;'ve had to go to an Elder Law Lawyer. It's insane how the USA treats illness -- not at all if you're not rich.
Alzheimer's qualifies for hospice care, even without that 6 month prognosis. I just learned about it. Ask her doctor about it. You get all the resources at home (or a facility?)... covered by insurance.
I'm confused but if she is already in assisted living why would you need to take her out?
She's in a private pay assisted living facility, in technically independent living ATM. It costs ~$3k/month... Which we are able to make work through her SS and my covering the difference. But they don't accept Medicare/aid and as she needs more care the costs will double/triple and I need another option.
Thank you for the clarification. My mom is in mid stages of Alzheimer's and I'm still trying to figure it all out.
Redditt