We were successful getting Aid & Attendance help from the VA for mom. Her Alzheimer’s has progressed and she needs to be placed in a memory care facility. The funds nowhere near cover the costs. Can she apply to live in the local Veterans Home? Her deceased husband never applied to live there. Would her expenses be covered even if she could get in? Her VA $ along with Soc Sec put her above the Medicaid income threshold but she doesn’t bring in enough for needed care. We are on that line of too much $ to get more assistance but not enough to afford what she needs.
This way you know you’ve got that possibility going, ok.
Then call every 2 weeks to see whats what. Not to sound callous, but due to Covid, facility occupancy rates can change from day to day. Where I am, VA Biloxi had like 4 veterans with it end of March / early April & some families chose to move their family member out permanently. Meanwhile VA hospital in New Orleans transferred all vets they could to Biloxi VA LTC & hospital. Done so when we had our big surge there were extra Covid beds available at the new Nola VA for anyone (not just vets). Our Phase 1 surge is kinda past now, and NOLA vets transferred back. So the Va Biloxi LTC has beds available. My point is right now occupancy is very much a moving target. There could be an opening in MC week after next. But you gotta get her on the list and call repeatedly to see what’s what.
So shes still in AL but they are pressuring you to get her moved out? So do you think they really truly need her out... like is she doing stuff that places herself and others in jeopardy? Like she’s wandering into the street or physically being a buttrash to other residents or staff?..
or
is it she has to be regularly redirected to where her room is but otherwise she’s behaving appropriately? If it’s this, I bet they will be ok on her staying till a MC opens up. It may be that she needs an aide 5 hrs a day that you may need to private pay for. Her AL may rather have her as they know her than take in a new resident they know nothing about in this time of Covid concerns.
As Cali & JoAnn posted, she cannot be eligible for LTC Medicaid AND VA A&A$ at the same time. LTC Medicaid covers all room & board costs for NH / SNF, so Medicaid is the better option once they have spent down their assets. The A&A gets suspended and instead she will get $90 @ mo from VA as a personal needs stipend.
The problem is that IF your mom is not yet assessed to need NH / SNF, medicaid will cover MC and AL only, again only, if your state does Medicaid waivers to shift Medicaid $ to do this (pay for AL or MC). It sounds like California does not do waivers (that’s right isn’t it, Worried?). So if that’s accurate, your options are limited. Find a vA with MC somewhere in the state that will admit her..... or see what might could be done to have your mom assessed to be needing a NH or SNF level of care. If she has never had a needs assessment done, I’d try to get one done to see just how far off she might be to ever needing a NH. If she’s like pretty solid for just a MC, then you imho kind need to be laser focused on find a VA MC somewhere. You can get her transferred to the one by you once there’s an opening. Good luck.
This is awful that she can't get LTC Medicaid because she is getting A&A.
What you need to do is make an appt with MediCal. Then make an appt with the VA dept in your County.
When it comes to the VA, it all depends on Dads service. He was in the service, not Mom. Was he retired from a branch of service? Did he serve during wartime? (To receive A&A u proved that) There are so many factors that go into what Mom is entitled to. Once you have a better picture, then decisions can be made.
And one of the first things to do is to determine if the local VA home has a memory care option.
memory care. She’ll lose the aid & attendance though but she won’t need it because Medicaid and her social security will cover the entire cost of memory care. Also aid & attendance isn’t countable income for medi-cal but she can’t receive medi-cal and A&A at the same time.