He had a stroke and has been in a hospital for about a month already. They are ready to move him to a home even though he is still having medial issues. We are going to have to put him In a home either way but we are not worried much about the insurance because he has insurance and medicare part a and b. we are now concerened about the needs of his wife. They have a home that is paid off (so no worries there) but they do have some credit cards and veichles under his name. How can we help her with living expenses if the short term disabillty is only 125 a week?? I really don't undertand what the next step would be to take :(
If he is going to a Nursing Home, be aware that Medicare does not cover that.
Go up to the Money and Legal tab and click on Paying for Care.
If they aren't collecting SS, they should apply, unless she's making a whole lot more working. The SS won't be taxable in all likelihood. I don't believe one can collect on a disability policy and SS at the same time.
His rehab will be covered by Medicare up to 100 days. Rarely does anyone stay that long, because unless they have a real skilled need or keep showing progress in rehab, it's discontinued.
What was their plan? Hopefully, they had one. But in order to help, you have to know exactly what income they have and what expenses there are.
If you don't expect her husband to be able to come home, I strongly suggest your friend spend $300-$400, get all her financial information together, and talk to an elder law attorney. If he needs ongoing nursing home care, she's going to want to try to preserve as many of their joint assets as she can.
I'm not union (right to work state) but am union eligible. Lots of folks I've worked with over the years are union. Work under a union approved crew-deal memo on most tiered projects. Union can provide for lots of benefits for family or those living in the union members household. After Hurricane Katrina, one of my union friends, got the union to pay the costs to move her deaf dad to a specialized NH for care. They co-ordinated the whole thing and paid all the costs as he was a member of her household. Truly a godsend for her. She had no idea this was a benefit.
Once you clearly know what union may or may not pay, you can then combine those details with their other finances to see if they need to do a spend-down to have him eligible for Medicaid to pay the NH or it there are other options. Please remember that she - if NOT herself going into the NH - qualifies to be the "community spouse" under how Medicaid runs. She does not have to impoverish herself, only hubby does. Most states have it such that the CS can have 113K in liquid assets plus the usual exempt assets (home, car). If she as the CS needs some of hubs income to enable her to live in the community, she can apply for MMNA. MMNA = Monthly maintenance needs allowance. It is kinda like old-school alimony for the NH set. Instead of all his monthly income being paid to the NH as per Medicaid's "SOC" or co-pay requirements, she can have all or a part of his monthly income diverted to her as her MMNA. The MMNA varies by state, like for TX, MMNA maximum diversion is $ 2,300.00 & that is quite a lot of $!
The whole CS situation is pretty different than Medicaid for a widow or widower. I'd really suggest that you get the union info and then see an elder law attorney to go over the best options for a CS. Somewhere I read most CS outlive their NH spouse by 12 years. That is a long time and you want to make sure she gets all the income & assets she can to be able to continue to live in the community and not become the penniless old lady eating a can of tuna for the weekend.