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As for the 500 a month medication, they can get help there too.
A couple I know going through health issues were going to have to pay 400 upfront for each weekly chemo treatment. They are on Medicare, but looks like they have a lousy supplement.
They got assistance and brought it down to 40 dollars a session. And this is in Texas - a state that isn't considered to be friendly when it comes to helping the poor and indigent.
You can have a house and still get Medicaid! You are allowed to own a home worth up to $505,000.
We just went through this with my mom. If her son was living there before she went in, he can stay there and probably still keep it after she passes.
just went through this with my moms house. My disabled brother lived with her and they will not try to recover any fees.
They need to get with a social worker to help them with the process.
This is correct, I wish people would stop spouting (bluebiker) incorrect information on things they don't know.Medicaid is given to those who own homes. I helped an old friend apply for medicare when she got cancer, she owned her home, inherited it from her parents.
I am sorry the Ops relatives are in this situation, but some of it, is their own making, they should have stood up to the dr prescribing $500 a month pills. I hope a social or VA worker can help them.
Just make sure you did not put the house in any kind of revocable living trust.
The house is only protected in personal name . Once you put it in a trust it avoids probate but it becomes a countable asset.
You would have to sell it,spend the dollars down to medicaid level in order to just qualify..
I have seen to many attorneys who just do general practice do this. They think it is a good thing to avoid probate on the house not realizing the revocable trusts turn a protected asset in to an unprotected one as far as qualifying for medicaid.
This is correct, I wish people would stop spouting incorrect information on things they don't know.Medicaid is given to those who own homes. I helped an old friend apply for medicare when she got cancer, she owned her home, inherited it from her parents.
I am sorry the Ops relatives are in this situation, but some of it, is their own making, they should have stood up to the dr prescribing $500 a month pills. I hope a social or VA worker can help them.
Yea, you wouldn't believe who will tell you these things!
The first one was the " business " manager of our local nursing home. Oh no, she can't have a house. She's no longer there, but she was nice, just not trained.
So we were ready to sell it and use the proceeds for her care, but then the people from DADS, set us straight. Our county agency that handles aging and disabled cases. I also looked up the Medicaid laws. And if I remember correctly, the 505K is a base set by federal law. States can make it higher - probably like California.
yes, never turn unsecured loans into secured loans. Never put a mortgage on your home that you can't afford to pay in order to pay off medical, credit cards, or any other unsecured loans that would be forgiven if you have to file for bankruptcy.
They need to see a Social Worker and see what help is available to them. Sad story and it happens all too often. Too many people in the US do lose it all to medical expenses after working for a whole lifetime. It is excessively cruel that the US does not simply have insurance for all like the rest of the world.
They have been retired 8 years. 8 years ago they were able to pay off their mortgage from some money she got from her company upon retirement. Her DH has poor health and would not be alive except for all the medical intervention over the years. One Dr. put him on something that cost them $500+ a month and refused to switch to a cheaper one when they begged him, he said too many side effects. Long time later they told dr. simply they were having to charge food and couldn't pay that charge bill...finally he was switched. Finally he went to VA for help and things are better, but it was too late, they were already swamped. I think they just did not know what to do and didn't share it.
They have medicare and F policies and drug policies. All the hospital times were covered, etc. and I don't think it was much beside the drug thing.
I can't figure out where the rest of their money went. No savings, no IRA, pension, just SS. Their furniture and clothes are all old / used. Their house is little and old. They don't drink or go out much just an occasional meal out, very rare. Their car is 2002. They probably had to charge a couple airplane tickets to go up to see their son, but that shouldn't have caused the new $50,000 mortgage.
They have a new digital camera and laptop but that is all I can see anywhere.
I just think they did not have enough cash coming in. They were both hard workers but never made a lot of money. Their impending move is accelerated because of this but also to share some responsibility and caregiving duties.
Old age and retirement years can be a challenge for a lot of people. She told me she never ever thought she would be doing this caregiving and having to give up her home like this. Though she did work, she always relied on her husband to be the "leader" in the family and now that's falling to her and it doesn't appear she is coping well. People can be loyal, hard-working, and caring and still have a boatload of problems in the end.
So it wasn't "large medical bills" which created this situation. Yes, sadly there's a mystery or they just weren't good with money or too proud or something.
It's too late now to avoid the drama but for future reference: People need to STOP being so damned attached to a house.
They could have moved to SENIOR HOUSING, HUD INCOME BASED rentals in income restricted communities - which means they'd only pay a fraction of their monthly income for rent and they usually include all utilities. They are all nice and found everywhere.
You CAN have assets but any income producing gets put in your AGI for your income restricted limit.
There are three categories of low income:
Low Income
Very Low Income
Extremely Low Income - you can make just a few thousand dollars per year on SS and still qualify.
HUD uses those terms very specifically to define the difference in grants given to housing locations based on these categories - each category has a certain percentage and income allowed for the resident.
They still CAN do that.
If they/he doesn't "need" skilled nursing care - for activities of daily living for which they'd need medicaid, they can sometimes find another specific type of HUD income restricted housing called 202 for FRAIL SENIORS / or SUPPORTIVE CARE.
I don't know about VA benefits but I'd pursue that avenue, too.
Last edited by runswithscissors; 04-09-2017 at 02:41 PM..
Sad story. They needed expert advice and apparently didn't get any. They could most likely have avoided this whole thing by NOT mortgaging the house, and then filing for bankruptcy. Most states have laws that protect your primary residence in bankruptcy. That's a shame.
I have a friend whose situation was equally dire, but I put him in touch with county senior services, which advocates for the elderly. They got copay relief for his cancer meds from the pharmaceutical company that sells the meds. They got food stamps for him and assistance on his heating bill. They found transportation for him to his chemo treatments. Once he found an expert advisor, his life got all sorts of better.
Many elderly people have lived their whole life taking what was handed to them and never asking for more. When they get old and sick, it is easy to marginalize them, steal their assets and shove them into an early grave. This poor woman probably spent her whole life letting others make decisions for her, and a lot of those decisions were not in her best interest.
Many times Property taxes can be delayed on Seniors and paid when they sell the house after death.
Seems like they could have kept their Homestead and not had to mortgage. Maybe they had no one with good advice around.
It's called a Circuit Breaker or Property Tax Reduction. Call your tax assessor's office for an application. In most states they put a lien on your home for the amount of reduction each year which must be paid when the house changes hands. In Idaho, there is no lien. The reduction is free to the homeowners who qualify.
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