How does Mom get Medicaid to pick up the 20% copayment, needs nursing home?
My Mom lives in R.I. ,income of 1,238.00 S.S. and is on Medicare. My mother is 83 and gets 1,238.00 per month from social security, she is a R.I. resident and has Medicare and United Health which is the same, but I need to get her Medicaid to pick up the 20% co-payment so she can afford to go into a nursing home since I can't take care of her much longer! Please let me know what I can do, she worked her entire life and now she can't get the care she needs!!! She pays rent, electric, food, cable and phone since she has life alert. She pays 2 Hospitals 25.00 per month that she owes over 3,000 dollars all together and she tries her best to pay every month! Plus her medicine co-pays so she is left with basically nothing, she has no savings, and no assets worth talking about so if anyone can give me some advice please feel free!!!
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The rent expense (I assume is for a regular apartment) will be substituted for the NH rent, which will include electric/utilities/TV/phone. She will stop needing groceries and laundry in a NH. Add these numbers up to see where you are at with a monthly NH contribution.
A place with skilled nursing will handle the insurance & Medicare billing for meds and the medical services provided. When you tour places, you will talk with someone about how the whole billing thing works.
You will work with a social worker & Business Office as well, to go through the asset review and county/state required processes to find ways to pay for care before Medicaid.
If you are thinking of applying for Medicaid now, it is too late to gift out funds, shift things into trusts and annuities. If it wasn't planned for and done more than 5 years ago, it is too late.
DO make sure you set aside funds for a Burial Expense Fund. I think Medicaid will exempt up to $1500, but this is something to ask about for your state. Cremation is frequently far less expensive than burial, but can get spendy with post-cremation add ons.
Start getting ready for the Medicaid process by gathering up all her financial records for the last five years. You'll need bank statements, life insurance, SS award letter and will have to account for every penny she spent or gave away for the last 5 years.