My Mom ( 91 yo ) lives with me . I work and although I have help come in during the day her memory is failing, she has fallen 2x and in general there has been a general progressive downfall in her mental health and mobility.
Her M.D. agrees that a LTCF is needed. I have applied for Medicaid and have toured facilities and chosen one ( we live in upstate NY) the process can take 45 days or more. Is there anyway to move it along...I fear her next fall may be serious if not worse.
1. Ask facility to accept her while waiting for the approval with that little $ she has now.
2. Reach for community (relatives, friends, church, local agencies who can help) to find day time helper(s)
3. Sign her up for day care program. Some of them have grants.
Good luck!
What happened when you looked at NH? is there a reason why she couldn't get admitted as "Medicaid Pending"? IS there a reason to wait to move her to NH?
You know the next fall she has (and there will be another one) may solve your situation…..if she falls and can be hospitalized (not under observation either) for 3 or more full days, then she can be released from the hospital to a NH for "rehab". Rehab post hospitalization is a 20 day MediCARE paid for benefit. If the NH takes Medicaid (which most do but you need to make sure they do), then at the end of her Medicare paid for "rehab" she applies for Medicaid for her long term care continued stay. She will have the fat medical file too now to show the need for skilled nursing services too. You will be ahead of the curve too as you have her Medicaid application in the system.
Oh my mom's Medicaid for NH application took almost 5 months, was 3 years & 6 months of financials and I had an appeal for a transfer penalty to work through at about month 5 on my mom's car. She had a medical appeal done the initial month, which the NH dealt with and that took like 3 months to clear. 6 months to get total approval and then Medicaid retro'd payment to the NH 6 months. Oh for more fun, NH sent monthly bills at private pay rate & late fees too with a "Deferred for Medicaid Pending" sentence on the invoice.