Financial Ruin

Lalaavne · March 25

My mom has Alzheimer's and is in memory care, and we are running out of money. At the same time, my dad is quickly declining with dementia. They do not qualify for Medicaid. What does a person do when they can't afford care and nothing is available?

Quilting brings calm · March 25

Are you talking about at home Medicaid, Medicaid waivers, or institutional Medicaid? Eligibility rules are different. Have you talked to an elder care attorney? Have you looked into the concept of spenddown? I don’t really understand the ins/outs of it, but basically you have to show you’ve spent the extra income that make them ineligible on eligible expenses and then Medicaid comes into play. So I think, for example, your parents pay all the ‘extra’ income to the nursing facility and Medicaid pays the rest of the monthly fee.

H1235 · March 25

Welcome. I agree with QBC that you should talk with a lawyer. Have you applied for Medicaid and been turned down? I was not able to apply til mom had almost no money left. Then I crossed my fingers said a prayer and hoped there was nothing in her history to disqualify her. It was so scary. At one point I found out her name was on my brothers checking account (just in case of emergency) and was so worried they would count that as her money. I think a lot depends on why they don’t qualify. If it’s because they have a vacation home, then that needs to be sold first. If they have too much money right now, well it goes quickly and they would eventually qualify. As QBC has said there are purchases you can make (I did a prepaid funeral for mom) to bring that number down more quickly. If their monthly income is too high I think there is a way to deduct certain medical expenses to possibly allow them to qualify. If it’s because of a purchase or gift not allowed during the look back period, I think the state might allow that to be put back into the account somehow (out of families pocket or sell the asset maybe). Things start getting tricky here and you really need a lawyer. I will attach a Medicaid link just in case you haven’t seen it. Even with Medicaid, in some states it will not cover memory care or assisted living, in these cases a nursing home is necessary.

https://www.medicaidplanningassistance.org/medicaid-eligibility-income-chart/

Lalaavne · 2:10AM

https://alzconnected.org/discussion/comment/268791#Comment_268791

Thank you so much! I've never heard about an elder care attorney, so I will reach out to one. I appreciate your input!

Lalaavne · 2:11AM

Thank you very much! You've shared a lot of good information, and I really appreciate it! Blessings!

Financial Ruin

Comments

Commonly Used Abbreviations

Community Guidelines

Categories