Need to vent about South Dakota Medicaid
Waiting on Medicaid for my dad is starting to get dangerous. My mom is on Medicaid and this thing SD has called the Medicaid waiver which pays for 30 hrs/wk of home-health. This is the "fix" SD has to overcrowded nursing homes and ALs. However 30 hours is NOT enough, but luckily my dad qualifies medically for the waiver too so I applied for him. The financial qualifying time, though, is SO LONG. The poor specialist that works on cases like my parents is beyond overworked and she JUST got to my paperwork I sent in about 3 weeks ago. Anyways, my dad has started to get dizzy in the mornings and he fell this morning luckily while a caregiver was there but omg what if no caregiver was there?? There's not enough time in the day for the caregivers to take my mom to appointments or even make her dinner when stuff like this happens. I called our DSS social worker and told her my dad is getting worse due to lack of care and we need more waiver hours before he falls when they're home alone and passes away while my disabled mother watches and can't do anything. 60 hours a week would be great for my parents and it would solve a lot of issues. My mom could go to the dentist finally, and her caregiver can help her cook which is her favorite hobby. The house can get a proper cleaning, too. Maybe even there would be enough time for my mom to get her nails done once she saves up. I guess I'm just IMPATIENT and very very anxious. Ugh this too shall pass.
3 Comments
Popular Questions
Related Questions
- Who will take care of my elderly Mom now that I have to work to get Medicaid to cover MY health care needs?
- I'm taking care of a family friend for 4 years and want to know how to get paid.
- What do we do when we can no longer care for my MIL in our home?
- I have 4 parents that I’m caring for at the same time. They don’t have a lot of money but they don’t qualify for Medicaid. Can I get paid as a caregiver?
When I applied for my Mom's Medicaid, I did it over the phone and before hanging up I knew what paperwork was needed. I faxed everything 2 days later. Wouldn't you know it, after a month I get a letter saying they need half the paperwork I'd already faxed!
I called and told the case worker, she said she doesn't have all that I sent. I said I faxed 25 papers and received confirmation for 25 papers! So obviously someone lost them. Grrr....I brought them there personally,...and in the end she was denied any damd way. This woman only get $950.00 a month SS. It's a joke. I have the hospital stalking me for $3665.00 they say is her co-pay. She has Medicare. Sure, she doesn't need help. 😲 What a joke!
Sorry about the rant....I just got Rollin and couldn't stop.
Like I said, hang in there, it seems things are looking up....60 hrs would be awesome...
what the point is varies by state just like everything else Medicaid.
Also I’d be concerned that as both your mom AND your dad each will be on their own waiver so each their own caregiver, that may pose a problem for the state as to separating caregiver duties. Try to clearly find out if caregiver is allowed to overlap or share duties for both of them. The in-home waivers for my state (LA) require an able bodied adult to be able to do oversight when the state paid caregiver is not there. If mom can’t do for dad & vice versa, and your or another adult is not living there & available basically all the time then in home may not be feasible. But it might prioritize their placement in a NH.
The only place I’ve heard of that pays 40 & beyond for in home care to the point that it can be the equivalent of 24/7 is NYC. BarbBrooklyn has posted on this. The cost of real estate and living are so high for NYC that it’s actually more cost effective, cost efficient to pay for 24/7 split shift caregivers for elders in their home or rent controlled apt than to try to find a spot in a NH in NYC.