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Be aware that nursing homes are not required to take Medicaid. Patients can be admitted with money to cover the bills and when it runs out they can be told to leave. Nursing homes are businesses, not charities or public institutions.
Medicaid pays much less per bed than these places earn from private payers. Where I live the typical assisted living cost is around $8K/month and Medicaid pays around $2500. Most homes require a year or two of private pay at full “tuition” before they will consider a transition to Medicaid. Even then there is no guarantee the home won’t evict them at some future date.
I really hope diapers are included as they’re a major expense for my mother. What happens to people that have no money and no relatives to pay for these things?
Don't worry - they will be included
Does she have SS or any other pension. All that will have to be turned over to them each month.
My mom was in a nursing home via Medicaid. But her ss and survivors pension went to them.
We never had to pay for diapers and things like that.
Does she have SS or any other pension. All that will have to be turned over to them each month.
My mom was in a nursing home via Medicaid. But her ss and survivors pension went to them.
We never had to pay for diapers and things like that.
Yes, medicaid covers everything they need, but nothing more. If they have SS or SSI they can keep $30 or so,for personal items the rest of their check offsets the costs of care.
Yes, medicaid covers everything they need, but nothing more. If they have SS or SSI they can keep $30 or so,for personal items the rest of their check offsets the costs of care.
That is true in my state, too. BTW, it only pays for a shared room (unless all the rooms in the facility are private rooms). In my state, the person can keep $50 a month, and that is used for clothes and personal items.
Shampoo, deodorant, haircuts and things like that are all "personal items". If a doctor prescribes Boost/Ensure/Protein drinks that is considered "doctors orders" and Medicaid pays for it. Diapers are also covered, but they may be pretty cheap, ill-fitting, "government" diapers.
There are very, very strict rules regarding Medicaid and they also have a five year financial look back period.
In many states you can only have $2,000 in assets. But, different states have slightly different rules so check it out in your state.
People on the caregiving forum may have more information.
Medicaid pays much less per bed than these places earn from private payers. Where I live the typical assisted living cost is around $8K/month and Medicaid pays around $2500. Most homes require a year or two of private pay at full “tuition” before they will consider a transition to Medicaid. Even then there is no guarantee the home won’t evict them at some future date.
In my state, it is typical in most facilities to require self-pay for two to three years before they accept Medicaid. But even if you do self pay for that long, legally the facility can ask you to leave.
Some facilities never accept Medicaid. You could self pay for ten or twenty years and the month that you run out of money you will be asked to leave.
In my area, perhaps 1 out of every 40 or 50 facilities will take Medicaid from the beginning. Other areas may be very different.
I went through this with my late wife. Medicaid paid for the room and board at the NH, and provided a stipend of $30 a month for other expenses, like hair cuts, clothes, etc. Medicaid covered hospital and doctor bills as needed. Medicare Part B paid for prescriptions. I had to cover the non-covered expenses (ambulance, co-pays, etc.).
COnsult an elder care attorney who knows the laws of your state.
The best advice yet.
Consult an elder care attorney. The laws and benefits vary from state to state.
We did not "spend down" for my FIL. Why? Most of the nursing homes covered by Medicare were not very good. I guess you could get lucky and find a decent one, but I could not. The ones that were decent had a waiting list for Medicare, yet they were willing to accept private pay. I also noticed that the staff treated the "private pay" patients differently than the Medicare patients. Not nice, but reality.
The bad nursing homes I saw were so bad that I never went back.
We brought my FIL to live in our home. He had the proceeds from less than 50% of his house. He lost most of his money and property to a "golddigger" who was only married to him for 5 years. We used his savings to pay for his nursing care, medical care, medical supplies, living expenses, entertainment, and food. It went fast in about 10 years. I wish we had never made a settlement like that, but what could we do? FIL put this woman on his deed when he married. She was smart. Drained every bank account, deemed him incompetent, then filed for all of his assets the month he had his major strokes. He was so stupid to re-marry at such an old age. It didn't help that her son was a lawyer.
He almost got stuck in one of those medical nursing homes. Choose carefully or don't marry at all if you are over the age of 60.
I really hope diapers are included as they’re a major expense for my mother. What happens to people that have no money and no relatives to pay for these things?
My experience was that they paid for them, but they didn't change them nearly often enough. He got a bad yeast infection down there from sitting in stale urine too long.
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