The Medicaid office called today, they are sending a nurse out next Tuesday for Lynn’s evaluation. Has anyone been through this? I was just curious what to expect. Thanks in advance for your help, Nikki
Nikki, if I remember correctly you said you are applying for Medicaid Home care, this is standard procedure to see if he qualifies for the type care they offer.
Thank you for your reply. We have signed Lynn up for traditional Medicaid, but yes also for Medicaid HCBC-ECI ...now called Choices for Independence. I know they want to evaluate him, and that it is standard procedure... I was just curious what that entailed and if anyone here has been through it. Thanks, Nikki
well ok that was easy! The nurse was wonderful with Lynn and has obviously been trained on how to talk and deal with AD patients. The MMSE she “tried” to administer saddened me. It always does these days., as his score is always in the single digits *sigh. Due to his stage in AD he qualified for all the care they offer. He of course is resistant to have a nurse come and help him, but she obviously has dealt with this before. She was charming and knew just how to word things so that Lynn didn’t get upset.
So we will start off with one day a week for a nurse to help with personal care etc, then once a month for a nurse to check his vitals etc. If he accepts it, they will increase the care and as she said will help the transition for “some day” when more full time help, or hospice is needed. This takes a few weeks to set up, but then a case manager will come, evaluate our needs and supply any additional equipment/needs they feel we need.
All in all a pleasant experience and I wasted a lot of time worrying about nothing LOL
Just wondering, do they charge you for these services? Did you have to do the complete financial evaluation/qualifications prior to this medicaid person evaluating your "home" needs.
To answer your question, yes I met with them a bit ago and filled out all the medicaid forms. One has to qualify for medicaid in order to enroll in this program. There is no fee to us for these services. Hope that helped, Nikki
sorry I didn't see this earlier briegull, no this is called Choices for Independence. (at least in New Hampshire) It is part of the medicaid program for the elderly and disabled.
Wonderful Nikki. I am glad that you got that set up. We have a program like that here in Connecticut but my husband is too young. Sigh. I think you have to be 65. He is only 58. I doubt he will see 65.
I am sorry to hear that Mya .... It is for the disabled as well, not just the elderly. Is the program there not based on disability too? If not that is tragic, perhaps you could speak with the local health and human services office? Best of luck! Nikki
Mya, while they talk about the programs being for the elderly, they usually also cover younger people with severe disabilities. You should indeed check into the eligibility requirements. And if you are told "no" at first, ask someone else. Be persistent.
The case manager for Lynn's care just left. They had the wrong phone numbers as well as my address wrong, so we had no warning she was coming. THAT did not sit well with Lynn at all. I need to sweet talk him into these kinds of things. Seroquel wasn't of much help today! LOL Ohhhhhh but he was ugly. "there is nothing wrong with me!" I don't need any help!"..... well they knew going in he was resistant, guess now they know what I was talking about. I doubt the poor lady will ever come back.
Nikki, I am so sorry! Our husbands and wives don't like surprises at all! And Seroquel had been working so well with him! Hopefully by this afternoon he'll have calmed down and forgotten this morning altogether! That is the one good thing about when they get mad. Their short term memory loss means that they don't stay mad! Hopefully they will assign a new case manager who will have your correct phone number and address!
Thanks Mary, he is already calm again. Has forgotten she was even here in fact. It is such a wonderful program they offer, and it would have been nice to be able to partake in it. But, Lord is he resistant. He kept yelling "I don't need any help!" Well I do.*sigh To her credit, she handled him like a pro. I can see day care isn’t going to work either! Oh well...... at least he has been approved, and when he is more willing to accept help in the home, I will have it.
Today we will have a visit from the nurse who will come and check on Lynn monthly. They offered to have her come in 3 times a week, but Lynn just isn't ready for that. So, for now I have agreed to once a month. They offered to send in a home nurse aid to care for him and give him baths, and even offered to have someone come in and do light house work and cook meals. I refused both offers. He never did do much housework and zero cooking, so nothing has changed. I am perfectly capable of doing these chores and would rather they helped people who can't. As for the bathing etc, there is just no way he would allow anyone to help him. Seroquel or not, I fear just who would end up in that tub! She comes at 1:00 I will keep my fingers crossed and let you know how it goes ~Nikki
OK , the nurse JUST called, 15 minutes before she is suppose to be here - to cancel todays visit. HELLO! Do they not know the hell I went through to make sure he was all spiffy and clean? lol Seriously though, an hour fight to get him in the tub...... plenty of sugar coating soothing words to convince him, he needed to change his clothes..... etc etc and all for nil. All dressed up and no place to go he just said LOL how cute.
When Ron was released from the hospital our mediocaid application was pending. I was promised in-home help. Then told it couldn't be set up until the Medixcaid was approved. Then was told there isn't help of the type I need for him (specifically with psych issues). Then told he qualifies for in-home personal care--except there is a spouse in the home. I thought about that and than asked, "Do you really want me holding on to a grab bar, balancing on my braces, as I reach into the shower to help him wash and rinse, then trying to stay on my feet and crutches and help him get dry without slipping and/or falling? They rethought it and started him with 6 hours per week, upped later to 9. Yes, the folderol to get set up is a pain in the patoot, but well worth it. I consider it my payment for the services we get. If/when you can get this kind of help take all you qualify for. Keep in mind that even if you can do your own dishes, vacuuming, laundry, grocery shopping, having the help do it frees you to take care of the finances, DPOA,endless paperwork, read a book, take a walk, et cetera,et cetera,et cetera... I've found that starting as we need to go is way better than waiting until we need to set up a new level of help and going through the hell of resistance to it.
I'm glad it worked out for you carosi! Though I am legally 100% disabled, I pride myself on what I can do It is a personal thing for me, to not take more than I absolutely need. Right now, I am more than capable to do all my own chores. My sister and her two children moved in with us last December due to a domestic violence divorce, the situation is working out wonderfully! I can help her with the children, who I couldn't love more if they were my own (she is my twin) and she helps with house work and watching Lynn.
So for now, I just don't need those particular services. He qualifies for an in home nurse 5 days a week, but for now I know he would not accept it. He won't need to be reinstated, I just call them when I feel he is ready to allow it. Until then, they will come and check on his vitals, his feet and things of that sort.. but no personal care as of yet. They did today say they wanted me to reconsider the meals on wheels with winter approaching. Driving is an issue for me at times, so I reluctantly agreed to that. But, I do agree, if you need the help, TAKE IT!!! It is what it is there for after all.
In doing a search on Medicaid topics, it doesn't seem that I reported on the Medicaid lecture I attended last week. If I did, just ignore this.
It seems that what Medicaid allows differs from State to State. For example, when we were dealing with this with my MIL in RI, she was allowed home help. They kept increasing it as her needs increased. Right before her NH placement, she was receiving about 3-4 hours of help PER DAY. (She didn't have AD - she was just very old and infirm).
At the lecture I attended, they said that in Florida, there is little to no home care available. In RI, they would pay for a NH, but not Assisted Living. In Florida, they will pay for NH AND half of Assisted Living.
It is a complex mess, and you need to find either a lawyer (very expensive) or a company (less expensive) that will help navigate the process.
If anyone is in Florida, and is interested, there is a company called Source Finders - www.sourcefinders.com - that helps with Medicaid.