Hello all Dr. says it's time for long term care. He told me to to pick the place and he'd fill out the forms. I told him the cost is $72,000 per year and he was surprised. Since this is out of the question on our income I looked into medicaid but I,m confused. Has anyone put their LO on it? I,ve heard you should hire an attorney but that's probably if you have assets to protect. We have none to protect or hide so I'm wondering if it would be an unnecessary expense. Any info would be appreciated. cs p.s. I'm not even going into the emotional aspects of this right now.
Just a suggestion-go to the social worker of the facility you are considering and ask them to help you. Something else that might work is to ask your Dr. if he can get your husband admitted to a hospital. The hospital social worker can sometimes work miracles
What other caregivers have told me about using an attorney for Medicaid is that without an attorney, the spouse at home can sometimes be left without enough money to live on, while nearly everything goes to the nursing home. (We have no assets except for a home and car, but my husband is getting social security disability.) That was frightening enough to me that I am trying to figure out where to get the money for an attorney when the time comes.
Having said this, every state is different. The state I live in is pretty “tight” about Medicaid money. I do not know one caregiver in our area who has successfully gone through the Medicaid maze without an attorney. Sometimes even the attorneys have a hard time getting the Medicaid people to call them back—and they have a certain amount of power and law behind them. Imagine an overburdened caregiver trying to get all this done on their own.
The best of luck to you. The emotional part of this is hard enough, without dealing with reams of paperwork, too.
I would suggest you call a certified elder law attorney and ask if they give a FREE consultation. Many do. They should be able to advise you what to do if you have no assets. After that, my experience has been they're not interested in you if you have no assets, but I could be wrong. The attorney we consulted about the POA's, wills, living wills, and all of that stuff pawned us off on one of his young associates, because he only handles the people with money. Every state is different, so check with your local Medicaid office.
Bluedaze's suggestion about the hospital is an excellent one. We went that way with my mother-in-law. If there is a medical reason to be in the hospital, Medicare will pay for 30 days. In that time, the hospital social workers can get the person into a nursing home "pending medicaid." And they work very hard to make sure you get it if you are eligible. That was in Rhode Island.
Agree with Joan that you absolutely MUST talk to an elder law attorney. The Alzheimer's Ass'n in your area can recommend some. Do know that (if you're in the US) if he's admitted to the hospital for "three midnights" he can go to a nursing home for 90 days under medicare, which I assume he has (I don't know how old he is). During that time you work to get the medicaid part straightened out. I don't know how it works if you are still working, which I gather you are. Doctors who blithely recommend nursing homes often have NO idea how much they cost, or how to go about doing it, nor do they have any idea about what YOU should do. But trust us - you've really got to talk to someone. Put it on your credit card if you have to.
In many cases you can work with the hospital social worker and the financial manager at the health care facility. They can give you a quick run through of the Medicaid requirements to make certain you qualify. Medicaid does protect some of the assets of the well (community) spouse. Nursing homes will admit patients "Pending Medicaid", after Medicaid is approved they will pick up the costs back to the admission date. All nursing homes do not accept Medicaid, you will have to find a facility with "Medicaid Beds".
It is vitally important to verify your eligibility for Medicaid as soon as possible, this will help the community spouse protect and retain many of the jointly owned assets and give you the basic ground rules. I have seen people who did not check out their Medicaid eligibility as soon as they became aware of the need for a nursing home for their LO. They strained to pay the pay the NH bills, depleted savings, sold cars and other assets to pay the billls. If they had taken the time to investigate Medicaid, they would have found out this was not necessary and could have saved some of these assets. The laws do vary from state to state.
Call your local or area Alzheimer's Association or Council on Aging and ask for help, don't withold any facts. They may be able to set you up for a no-cost consultation with an Elder Care Lawyer and get you on Medicaid quite quickly.
Hello all...I made an appt. with an eldercare lawyer to get facts re. medicaid, nursing home,assets etc. I will see him on Tues. the 10th. I will post any info I get to this disscussion. I can't believe the courage it took just to make that call. What will I do when LTC becomes a reality? cs
It does take courage. I'm PROUD of you, cs! But it becomes easier as you start to feel you have some control and you're doing something positive. You'll be fine.
Hello everyone, Saw an eldercare attny. on Tues. My DH is medicaid eligible based on the facts that we have a home(with mortgage), one car and no assets to speak of. In Ohio the community spouse can keep the home if they can afford it and one car. An allowance is provided to cover rent or mortgage and utilities. Our mortgage is more than the max allowed so I'll be looking for an apartment when we sell. I can keep the proceeds from the sale because it will total less(a lot less) than $22000.00. My monthly allowance would be between $2200.00 and $2700.00 depending on my rent. Attny.says better to go higher end on the rent since they pay dollar for dollar. One piece of good news is our life insurances are not con- sidered an asset because they have no cash value. On the downside, if I continue to work anything I earn would be deducted from my monthly allowance. This is sad news for me because I'm only 55 and love my job. I may have left out some things so ask away if there are any questions. P.S. a hospital socialworker told me an attny. would charge about $4000.00. The fee was $150.00
Hi cs, so happy you saw the eldercare attorney and that the fee was only $150! Sounds like you got some good advice. I talked to a medicaid consultant and received so much good advice for $100! At least you know where you are now and what you can do financially. Good luck on this journey!
cs, I'm sure this has been a very big weight off your shoulders.
I wonder, would it be possible for you to renegotiate your mortgage, or refinance? There is a new program now to make it easier to do that. If your interest rate is at all high, you might be able to get the payments down in the range where you could stay where you are.
You might check out: http://www.NACA.com. It's my understanding that this organization helps people keep their homes. You might be able to get some tips about refi from them.
cs: Also ask about reverse mortgages. If youhave lived in the house for over 2 years, have a good equity in it, and are over 62 years of age, that may be an option. No payment is due on the income stream until you die. Then, the house must be sold by the heirs to satisfy the lien.
Does the house have to be sold, or could the heirs "buy" it to satisfy the lien? I would assume in this case they would only have to pay the amount of the lien, not full market value.