Do I have to keep receipts of personal items I purchase for my mother such as Depends in order to justify that possibly in the future if applying for Medicaid once her money runs out?
So I would have to have 5 years of drug store receipts. I will start purchasing them differently but she is in her 5th year of assisted living. I have not kept those receipts. I am asking this in the event she eventually would have to go into a nursing home. I cant believe people keep years and years of receipts but maybe they do.
It is always safe to keep receipts. But I understand that the thought of collecting and keeping them indefinitely is daunting.
You are purchasing these items with Mom's money, right? Is she giving you cash, are you charging these things, writing a check, what? Does she reimburse you after the fact?
Have a cup of tea and take a breath - you're on overload and we've all been there (or are there now). The idea is to not mingle your money and hers. So you only purchase with her credit card - no reimbursements. Keep an envelope (I like a small manila one) in your purse for her receipts. Once a month, staple the receipts and put them in a file. Every month, add a copy of the credit card statement to the file. Don't bother sorting or putting them in order - you can find what you need later, if necessary.
I am just trying to understand if i need all the receipts going forward for what she needs. I am sorry to appear stupid. Today i just found out she eye disease i cant spell. I truly feel as though i am losing my mind. This is not how i want to age. I have taken care of myself. My mother never has. I just dont understand the medicaid lookback issue or rather i do but i dont know how to prove what i buy is for her. I will keep receipts from now on
Not sure what that means. We are paying now. One day her money will be gone. Then it will be difficult to pay for her so we would apply for medicaid once her assets are gone. I am just trying to understand how i prove or do so moving forward that i purchase for her. She cannot take care of purchasing for herself. If her bank accounts are viewed they may think purchases were not for her but they are. I am just trying to understand how detailed my records must be. I am years into this without all receipts for items for her. I am asking this because earlier today i saw posts about medicaid lookbacks.
Medicaid is only concerned with anything $500 and over. They don't want to see drug store receipts. So over $500 in income (which is anything appearing in her account for that amount no matter the source) or over $500 payments are the receipts you need to keep and explain. If the explanation is not acceptable, there will be that amount in penalties to pay to Medicaid. What is not acceptable: a loan to someone would not be acceptable unless it is paid back to your parent. And money given to your parent by you (over $500), for example, would not be acceptable - again unless it is paid back. Look at all her statements from the past five years and see if there is anything like that. Also, they may look at mysterious repeating withdrawals or payments since that might indicate some type of under the table work thing going on. But it is a lot easier to get in home Medicaid long term care. They only look at the prior 3 months. And you will only go half crazy not completely crazy getting them the documents they want. I tried nursing home Medicaid first, and there were way too many penalties, and then I found out about the home care which is what I got for my mom. Worked out great! They not only care for your parent, they do light cleaning and cooking and clothes washing (strictly only your mother's clothes and sheets, etc). You should contact your county office of aging to help you get this and find the right people to help you. (First you must have power of attorney on your parent or you will not get anywhere!)
I had to get Medicaid for my mom nervewrecking...I would let the nursing home apply for it and they will tell u what u need...the 5 year lookback is basically looking at property (home) your mom may have..Medicaid only allows $2000 in money/assets to qualify...I had a joint account with mom and I reimbursed myself for purchases made for har thankfully I had receipts I kept in a folder with items purchased for her circled I also put any charge card statement and monthly bank statement in that folder...if u have a joint account I need those receipts to show what was purchased for her and I never did write myself a check from the joint account I just transferred it over to my account...I had to get about 4 months of info for Medicaid to show what her money was spent on...if I even bought her a candy bar I would circle it...that was a year ago I went through the process of getting my mom Medicaid and I thought I’d pull my hair out..I strongly suggest u let the Resthome take care of it when time comes and a cup of tea never calmed my nerves so I drank a wine cooler and s xanax not a good thing to do..hope this helps
For those of us with a background in bookkeeping, keeping receipts and tracking expenses is second nature.
Your system does not need to be complicated, but detail is good. Even a small day planner where you record where you shopped, what you spent and what you bought helps. I do this with Dad’s handyman.
You can use a 3 hole punch in Manila envelopes and pop them into a binder. One binder per year, one envelop per month. When you reimburse yourself, gather up the receipts, if you write a cheque, make a copy and keep it all together.
Many shops can now email a copy of the receipt to you which helps.
Just remember to get separate receipts if you are buying something for yourself the same trip.
If you use the envelope/binder system it will not take too long each month to reconcile the receipts.
You are purchasing these items with Mom's money, right? Is she giving you cash, are you charging these things, writing a check, what? Does she reimburse you after the fact?
Your system does not need to be complicated, but detail is good. Even a small day planner where you record where you shopped, what you spent and what you bought helps. I do this with Dad’s handyman.
You can use a 3 hole punch in Manila envelopes and pop them into a binder. One binder per year, one envelop per month. When you reimburse yourself, gather up the receipts, if you write a cheque, make a copy and keep it all together.
Many shops can now email a copy of the receipt to you which helps.
Just remember to get separate receipts if you are buying something for yourself the same trip.
If you use the envelope/binder system it will not take too long each month to reconcile the receipts.
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