This may vary by state, but it is probably up to the nursing home. The one my mom is in (NC) would let us have a private room (were one available - there's a huge waiting list though) - and we could pay the difference between the Medicaid rate the private room rate. In our case, this would be around $600 a month. My three sibs and I will split the cost four ways.
In Texas, Medicaid also views this as a no-no. Whatever you would pay then, medicaid would want you to pay towards their care, or they could count as income, and then it might disqualify them for Medicaid. You always have to be very careful with Medicaid. Also most nursing homes have very few rooms that are private.
In some states all nursing homes are legally required to accept medicaid as a payment. I recommend seeing an elder law attorney. They will know if your state requires the facility to accept medicaid (facilities often don't disclose this so they will have more private payers) and make sure she gets to stay after her money runs out.
My mom was offered a private room on another floor in her NH recently. The social worker pushed for it..as my mom had a few unlucky incidents with roommates, for mixed reasons. I wasn't sure she would do well alone - she is very social- but the private room definitely feels a bit more like home since you don't have to sleep next to a stranger or look at their stuff. The jury is still out as to if it was worth the move from a familiar floor..she is still adjusting to her surroundings. Do we ever know if we make the right choice. What do you think..would you choose a private room for your loved one if they had to move to another floor? It wasn't a "great" floor, but it was familiar.
My mom was offered a private room on another floor in her NH recently. The social worker pushed for it..as my mom had a few unlucky incidents with roommates, for mixed reasons. I wasn't sure she would do well alone - she is very social- but the private room definitely feels a bit more like home since you don't have to sleep next to a stranger and look at their stuff. The jury is still out though in whether it was worth it to move from a floor she was used to..it's only been a week and she's still adjusting to her new surroundings. Do we ever really know what the right choice is?
Shoot- I answered this a year ago w/o reading the whole question! Medicaid is quite different than Medicare (with rider policies). I know that Mother had Medicare and one rider policy. Even with that, she was placed in a facility that was not nice, not private--hence the meltdown and us placing her in a posh rehab and wealthy sis picking up the difference. Had she been on MEDICAID in UT she wouldn't have had the choice. They would look at a family's ability to "pay up" and not have allowed this. A totally different dynamic, for sure. I'm sorry if I misled anyone.
Does this have to be in a Medicaid facility? Our mom is in a private pay facility right now. It would be nice to keep her there even after the money runs out. Currently O.E. is not a Medicaid facility. Moving her would be too dramatic. Our plan is to have her run down her savings money, her income money from SS, Vets, and pension totals about $3100 per month. Any ideas or realities.
In NY, that's a no-go. Medicaid would view the ability for family to pay the difference as "proof" (sorry, that's probably not the best word, but I haven't had coffee yet!) that funds exist for the resident, and therefore, why should the government provide aid if family members can? Of course, you and I know there's a big difference between coming up with an extra $200 a month for a loved one and coming up with the thousands it would cost out of pocket if Medicaid weren't supplementing. But unfortunately, at least around here in NY, Medicaid doesn't see it that way.
Situation: Mom in nursing home, semi. Wants private. If family contributes the money for the private, does that go into the formula for calculating her eligibility for Medicaid?
Medicaid is quite different than Medicare (with rider policies). I know that Mother had Medicare and one rider policy. Even with that, she was placed in a facility that was not nice, not private--hence the meltdown and us placing her in a posh rehab and wealthy sis picking up the difference.
Had she been on MEDICAID in UT she wouldn't have had the choice. They would look at a family's ability to "pay up" and not have allowed this.
A totally different dynamic, for sure. I'm sorry if I misled anyone.
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