I am afraid.

Comrade

I am afraid for my DWs future and of my own. Her dementia is accelerating and I am not "prepared" emotionally or with "what to do next" information.

The Medicaid website is obtuse and from sample qualification questions, we are not eligible for assistance, even though both of us are on social security.

She is my DW and want to protect her. I also need to protect myself.

Do I lose everything to help her transition to a facility? If seems incredibly unfair, if not criminal. 

I am incredibly exhausted and after a wandering adventure last night, need to put a plan in to place.

Any ideas?

Ed1937

Comrade, I'm sorry to say that many, or most of us are somewhat in your shoes. The reality of this disease is that we will have to spend down much of what we have before we will be eligible for most assistance. Most of us will not come out of this while being "well off". But we will be living, and that's about all we can expect for the future. It's not fair, and it sucks.

If you haven't yet, please consult with a CELA (certified elder law attorney). They are the people who can help you keep what is allowed by law. The money you spend with them will be money well spent.

Quilting brings calm

Comrade 

I don’t know about Kentucky but in Illinois there are two types of Medicaid 

The kind you can get in your home and institutional Medicaid, the kind you can get in a nursing homes   The income limits are different. In Illinois, the institutional Medicaid limit means that the patient either has income and assets below the monthly limit or ( if over the limit) that the patient pays all but about $60 of it monthly to the nursing home and Medicaid pays the rest. If the patient is married, the spouse gets to keep the house, a car, furniture, etc.  they also get  some or all of their own income  and a limited amount of savings. In Illinois that limited amount is $110,000.  Crushed commented on your other post that KY is much stingier on what you can keep.  That’s why you need to go see a CELA lawyer and discuss your situation. 

Comrade

Thank you and am searching for an eldercare legal source this week.

Barry

Cynbar

Comrade ---- Yes, Medicaid can be very confusing, but an elder law attorney plus advice here on this forum can guide you through the process. First, I want to say that every state is different, so we can only give you generalities. Please consult a lawyer in your state or at least an advisor at your local senior center.

There are 2 types of Medicaid --- one for persons in the community, the other for persons in long term care facilities. Many people do not qualify while living at home, but would qualify if they enter a facility. The community criteria are probably what you are seeing. You have to make sure you are applying for the right type of Medcaid,, and also the process your state has in place when your wife is still home but the plan is for placement.

I am in Massachusetts, so the rules may well be different where you are. Here, a spouse can keep their house and car and their own income as well as $130,000 in assets as long as they spend half of their joint assets for care. In other words,, if you had $260,000 or more, you would need to pay for private care or a facility until you spent down to that $130,000 and then you could keep that and your DW would go on Medicaid. If you have $130,000 or less, you spend half on her care before Medicaid kicks in, then you can keep the rest. After she is in the facility, you can apply to keep some or all of her Social Security if you need it to cover your bills at home (otherwise it would go to the facility towards her care.)

Also keep in mind that there are some things that disqualify a person from getting Medicaid in any form. You can't own other property or boats or motor homes or multiple vehicles. And you can't have given away or lost a large amount of money within the last 5 years, which is the Medicaid look back period. As long as those things aren't true, you should be able to get long term care Medicaid for your wife without totally impoverishing yourself when the time comes for placement. 

Please do consult an elder law attorney. This is just a very basic overview to help you understand the process. A lawyer can help you through it, and also can have other plans for safeguarding assets that might be specific to your case and are too complicated for this discussion. Don't get discouraged, many families have worked this out.

Old89

You may have seen this, but it seems many local senior services are not well publicized.   Kentucky seems to have an informative website with a suite of services for seniors with demential and caregivers.  It may not be your long term solution but could give you some added information and immediate assistance while you develop a longer plan.

https://www.kipda.org/social-services/aging-disability-resources/

Ed1937

I just saw something about the Biden administration will be announcing some type of government help or program for Alz. patients. It's supposed to start sometime in the new year. Not sure if this is something that still has to pass congress, but I hope not. No info on what it will include.

Stuck in the middle

The best thing about seeing a CELA is knowing what's ahead financially.  I'm not afraid (of that) because I know what I can do to assure we continue eating well and sleeping warm.

The scariest movies are the ones in which you know the monster is there but you can't quite see it.