A family member (my wife) has advance-level Alzheimer's disease. We have tried two care homes, but she becomes aggressive/combative when we leave her there. She needs to be hospitalized. She is still 63 and cannot qualify for Medicare. I am retired and my small pension is the only family financial resource.
What financial assistance/resource can be available to us for her care (hospitalization)?
people. I use for my husband, it cost about $30.00 a day, depends of your income,
it could be less.
First, you might want to consider applying for your wife's Social Security retirement benefit. She will lose 20% of her maximum benefit but it appears this may appreciably help with family finances. Social Security Disability may not be helpful because there is a two year wait after benefit approval to receive Medicare. By that time she will already be 65 and otherwise eligible (presumably).
Second, if you or she are not a veteran, the only public benefit for long-term care will be Medicaid (Medi-Cal in your state). If your financial circumstances are such that she qualifies financially you do not necessarily need an attorney to apply. You do, however, want to make sure that your estate planning documents, e.g., Wills, Powers of Attorney, Health Care Surrogacy, etc. are up to date...you want to make sure you have the power to make decisions for her when she is unable to so for herself and that she is not the beneficiary of any resources that may disqualify her from Medi-Cal if she were receiving benefits and you were to predecease her. You do not necessarily need an expensive elder law attorney to prepare or amend these documents – I’m sure there are plenty of local attorneys that provide such estate planning services at very reasonable fees (though I would never discourage you or anyone from consulting an elder law attorney).
The other advantage to applying early for her Social Security retirement benefit is that if she is placed in a nursing home environment under Medi-Cal you will receive a portion of her Social Security benefit under "Spousal Impoverishment" rules. (In CA the Community Spouse - the spouse not receiving Medi-Cal – may, in 2015, retain a minimum of $1.966.25 of the couple's combined income).
In addition to nursing home coverage, Medi-Cal provides home and community based services that may help with home care and assisted living expenses.
The best place to begin your search for all programs that may be of assistance is your local Area Agency on Aging. Every county in the U.S. has one and they act as "clearing house" for all programs, state and federal, that may be available to your wife. They will be of tremendous help. Do an internet search for the agency in your county.
My husband got his disability insurance and Medicare when he was 62 years old
- 3 year ago. Good luck!