Can I move mom back home and get Medicare or MediCal to pay for nursing?

It will be easier to get her in long-term care right from the facility she is in. If u bring her home and find out you can't do it it will be lots harder. If she eventually needs Medicaid, it will be easier to file for if she is already in a facility.

I am also 68. I had Mom for two years. At the time she could walk and get herself the toilet. I had to clean her up. Giving her a shower did us both in. I am 5ft tall with no upper body strength. Just helping her out of a chair and dressing her did a number on my back. Mom went from my house to an assisted living and is now in a NH. Your Mom is worse than mine and I would suggest a NH. Transferring her all the time will do a number physically on u. I found a nice place. Mom is clean, taken care of and fed. There are doctors involved in her care. We all need to realize that our parents are Seniors and we r too.

I would be very concerned about your safety if lifting is required. I think a nursing home would be wiser for both you and your mother.

You've answered your own question about caring for her at home. I don't know of any program that will pay for full-time care in the home. Medicare will cover a short-term PT, OT, nurse program that last about 10 weeks. However, they spend little time at the home and don't help with caregiving or cleaning. Medicaid might pay for a few hours a week, but not many. The PACE program through Medicare or Medicaid helps, but again not a full-time caregiver. Medicare covers hospice care if your mother qualifies, but it doesn't cover a caregiver. Your mother would have to arrange for that herself. It sounds like you would be her only option. That isn't something you won't, so a facility sounds like a much better idea. Medicaid (MediCal) will help with that if she qualifies. Good luck!

Well, she does not walk, and needs help transfering from bed to toilet and wheelchair, so I have to guide and lift her a bit. She cannot make her own meals, or shower or anything. I have some daily help with In Home Support Services for about 4 hours a day, if I bring her home, but I would be a prisoner in my own home having to care for her all the hours we do not have caretakers. I am 68 years old, and do not look forward to nursing a person the rest of my old age, and would prefer she be in a home of some kind that has skilled help.

If Mom has MediCal they will pay for some in-home care. Talk to the social worker and/or the finance director where she is now about what she will be eligible for when she is discharged. MediCal does not pay for 24 hour care in her home, because at that point a care center is more cost-effective.

What level of care does your mother require?

Since each State is different regarding their Medicaid rules, it would be best to contact MediCal to see how their program works.

As for Medicare, it does not cover nursing care in a home. It does cover for physical therapy, occupational therapy, and speech therapy. Medicare might send a nurse over couple times a week to check up on Mom. But they do not do full-time skilled caregiving care.

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