Currently I am battling Medicaid managed care Insurance in Texas to get my mom all of the services she is entitled to as a patient on a ventilator 24/7. The Insurance keeps putting up roadblocks. I would like to reach out to members to see if they have had the same problems, to compare notes and see if they were able to resolve issues like I am having. A little background - In Texas family can be paid caregivers (except a spouse), I am the daughter and have taken care of mom 12 years, only recently (one year) has she been on the ventilator. At the Acute care hospital they tried to get her off the vent but her Medicare ran out before they were successful. We had two options at that time, 1) put her in a nursing home for vent patients - not possible because the closest one is hundreds of miles away and would not do that anyway because of her delicate condition, the care she needs is just not there. Option 2) Receive training at the hospital in all aspects of Trach care, we chose this option because I had already been taking care of mom for 8 years. Now instead of increasing attendant hours since her condition has technically declined they have "decreased" her attendant hours (mine to the point that I can no longer meet financial obligations)significantly. So I am interested in hearing from anyone having trouble with Medicaid managed care. Look forward to hearing from you!
Sometimes it's good to bring in hospice to get a patient stronger. They can then be discharged from Hospice and go back on regular Medicare and/or Medicaid.