The poverty line for CA is $20,000 and she makes $30,000. . Does medi-cal supplement at all? Can’t seem to find info on this. Mom could pay $2400, so could Medi-cal supplement the rest?
No MediCal probably will not take her 2400 a month. It puts her over the income cap. What she is allowed in assets is different. I just looked it up and Cal. does notballow MillervTrusts, also called Qualify income trusts where the overage would go into the trust.
As Alva said, criteria has changed in Cal. for MediCal. I always found it was better to get an appt with a Medicaid caseworker and find out from them what the income and asset caps are. And anyother questions you may have.
Currently California laws, having recently changed, are VERY different from the laws of any other state. You can now keep up to something like 100,000 and still receive Medi-cal supplement for in-facility care from what I hear. But the details can be complicated. As to the monthly amount you have, that would all go to your Medi-cal bed if in facility with the state picking up on the other income; you would still have to "medically qualify".
The Medical site will inform you; I am not nearly knowledgeable enough. I would, were I apply for Medical, see an elder law attorney with a list of all assets and of monthly income statements. This is nowadays so very complicated that it requires expert guidance and advice imho. It isn't something you can afford to be wrong about.
Do research on the Medi-cal site for California and learn all you can from your own research regarding all qualifying numbers and diagnoses on ADLs, and etc. After you get all the information you are able to get online, give them a call with questions. You will have a long wait but they are very nice when you get them. And do consider seeing an elder law attorney. Yes, this hour of time will cost you somewhere between 400 and 700 for the hour, but you will get the information you need. A Forum of caregivers, even those of us with some experience, is just to chancy when qualifying is so very important.
I sure wish you the best of luck, and once you have got through THIS system YOU will be the expert here on this question!
So the credit card payment wouldn’t apply. But she can definitely use any medical costs that are reoccurring monthly.
If she applies for Cal-Fresh they allow you to use more things to qualify. You can deduct her monthly costs for rent/mortgage, I believe her cell phone bill, plus any reoccurring monthly medical costs. I think a single person can get up to around $300 a month (it was something like $290) which is what my mom qualified for. But Cal-Fresh, like I said before, is basically the new program for food stamps. It’s not medical care. It’s just extra money she can use for groceries. They put it on a credit card now so it’s not embarrassing going to the store having to pay with food stamps at checkout. Plus you can use it when you make a delivery order from Safeway, Costco, Amazon Fresh, basically all the grocery delivery services! My mom loves it!
I'm not sure if you can deduct life insurance payments. Ask your local Medi-Cal office. She might be able to deduct that but I’m not sure. It depends on if they classify it as a monthly “medical expense” or not.
You can sometimes get Medi-Cal approved with a share of cost because the person makes more that what the limit is. Currently in order to receive Medi-Cal for free, with no share of cost, the applicant can’t make more that $1732 monthly for an individual or $2267 monthly for a couple. They do let you deduct anything the applicant is paying towards healthcare coverage and any out of pocket cost they paid monthly for medication. My dad had a heart medicine that had to be filled monthly that cost $300 so we got to use that to help get him to qualify. He was also paying another $400 towards his Blue Cross secondary insurance coverage so we got to deduct that as well. Some of the people who help you with your application don’t disclose this information to you unless you ask so I wanted to make sure you know that you can deduct these things which could maybe help your situation. I work for a hospital and help patients get screened for Medi-Cal so I knew some of these things going into it. They didn’t offer me any of this information so if I didn’t know it because of my job, I wouldn’t have been able to get my parents approved for Medi-Cal. But you should ask the Medi-Cal office if she doesn’t qualify for Medi-Cal with no share of cost. Can she qualify for it with a share of cost? That might be an option for her.
If you apply her for Cal-Fresh, which is basically the new term for food stamps, she can deduct her cost of living from her income (along with any reoccurring monthly costs for medical coverage/medication like I mentioned above) so that means she can deduct her rent/mortgage payment. I applied my mom for this not thinking she would qualify but when you deduct her monthly mortgage payment from her monthly income she qualified for about $300 a month. Something is definitely better than nothing so she was happy as a clam with that.
I want to say that to start my parents were denied Medi-Cal coverage due to their income being too high but I got them approved for full Medi-Cal coverage with no share of cost after I spoke with the Medi-Cal office and sent in the requested documents to show their monthly medicine costs and monthly costs for health insurance. Don’t give up!
This is so helpful! Thank you for the detailed info.
she has a credit card she is paying down. Would that count that credit card payment and deduct that from what she brings home?
She pays almost $1100 /month in medical insurance, life insurance, credit cards, and phone. After that she has about $1300/mo. Wonder if that would count.
As Alva said, criteria has changed in Cal. for MediCal. I always found it was better to get an appt with a Medicaid caseworker and find out from them what the income and asset caps are. And anyother questions you may have.
The Medical site will inform you; I am not nearly knowledgeable enough.
I would, were I apply for Medical, see an elder law attorney with a list of all assets and of monthly income statements.
This is nowadays so very complicated that it requires expert guidance and advice imho. It isn't something you can afford to be wrong about.
Do research on the Medi-cal site for California and learn all you can from your own research regarding all qualifying numbers and diagnoses on ADLs, and etc.
After you get all the information you are able to get online, give them a call with questions. You will have a long wait but they are very nice when you get them.
And do consider seeing an elder law attorney. Yes, this hour of time will cost you somewhere between 400 and 700 for the hour, but you will get the information you need.
A Forum of caregivers, even those of us with some experience, is just to chancy when qualifying is so very important.
I sure wish you the best of luck, and once you have got through THIS system YOU will be the expert here on this question!
If she applies for Cal-Fresh they allow you to use more things to qualify. You can deduct her monthly costs for rent/mortgage, I believe her cell phone bill, plus any reoccurring monthly medical costs. I think a single person can get up to around $300 a month (it was something like $290) which is what my mom qualified for. But Cal-Fresh, like I said before, is basically the new program for food stamps. It’s not medical care. It’s just extra money she can use for groceries. They put it on a credit card now so it’s not embarrassing going to the store having to pay with food stamps at checkout. Plus you can use it when you make a delivery order from Safeway, Costco, Amazon Fresh, basically all the grocery delivery services! My mom loves it!
I'm not sure if you can deduct life insurance payments. Ask your local Medi-Cal office. She might be able to deduct that but I’m not sure. It depends on if they classify it as a monthly “medical expense” or not.
If you apply her for Cal-Fresh, which is basically the new term for food stamps, she can deduct her cost of living from her income (along with any reoccurring monthly costs for medical coverage/medication like I mentioned above) so that means she can deduct her rent/mortgage payment. I applied my mom for this not thinking she would qualify but when you deduct her monthly mortgage payment from her monthly income she qualified for about $300 a month. Something is definitely better than nothing so she was happy as a clam with that.
I want to say that to start my parents were denied Medi-Cal coverage due to their income being too high but I got them approved for full Medi-Cal coverage with no share of cost after I spoke with the Medi-Cal office and sent in the requested documents to show their monthly medicine costs and monthly costs for health insurance. Don’t give up!
she has a credit card she is paying down. Would that count that credit card payment and deduct that from what she brings home?
She pays almost $1100 /month in medical insurance, life insurance, credit cards, and phone. After that she has about $1300/mo. Wonder if that would count.