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catlady1 Asked August 2018

Will Medicare cover home health services provided by a spouse?

I only have Medicare. My husband cares for me. He is not on the house deed. Just my deceased mother and myself. I'm going to be having spinal surgery, hip replacement and shoulder replacement surgeries within the next 1 1/2 - 2 years. Will Medicare pay for home care assistance? I've had SSD for 15 years due to disability and am 63. I'm not able to care for my home or myself without assistance. Medicaid wants a monthly $1400 spendown before it covers me and we cannot afford that. Thank you,

catlady1 Aug 2018
No confusion, I worked for my Medicare. We don't have enough for a $1400 spend down, but I'm checking other avenues.

anonymous439773 Aug 2018
There is no program to pay for home health care. If you qualify for Medicaid you may get a waiver for a few hours a week at a very low pay rate. Even if you get approved by Medicaid, you may have to wait because their are very long wait lists. Most home health assistance is paid from family assets, not by taxpayers and the government. States are constantly revising Medicaid because of lack of funding available. As Glad stated consult an elder law ttorney bout the $1400 spendown if you have the income or assets to do that.

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gladimhere Aug 2018
You could pay husband that $1,400 a month spend down paying your husband, maybe. Check with an elder law attorney. I know you would need a care agreement, definitely. Different states have different rules on Medicaid.

notrydoyoda Aug 2018
I think you may have Medicare and Medicaid confused. You have Medicare coverage because of working and paying in over the years. Medicaid is funded by tax payers for people who are poor. If you have too much money, they will ask you to spend down the extra money before they will cover you.

Here's a helpful website about Medicare and home care assistance.

https://www.medicare.gov/coverage/home-health-services.html

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