What exactly is the "Resident Fund"? I understand that this can be used by by NH resident or family member / POA for the resident's benefit. Where does the money come from? Does the government expect it back at some point?
If they are on NH medicaid all of their monthly income except whatever your state has as their personal needs allowance must be paid to the Nh as the SOC (share of cost). PNA vary by state from $ 115 in MN to $40 in some southern states. for my mom in TX it was $ 60.
How its done kinda depends on how the resident is handling paying the NH. If they've made the NH the payee for their SS then the PNA is placed automatically into a resident account held at the NH. But if it's that they are continuing to have SS & other income going to their old bank account & DPOA is writing a check to the NH each month for the SOC, then the PNA says in their bank account but family can have a needs account set up at the NH to cover things. (I did it ths way for my mom). Whichever way you / DPOA needs to MAKE SuRE that the PNA does not exceed 2k as it will make mom ineligible for medicaid.
If mom goes to the on-site beauty shoppe at the NH, the stylist gets paid from the PNA.
Some NH charge for phone & cable which magically is the exact amount......
Trev - you / DPOA need to spend some to get mom to be under 2k & ASAP. So that she closes out this month (july) under 2k. If mom is ambulatory & still pretty "with it" I'd highly suggest mom goes to the dentist & get a cleaning and perhaps some needed work. Dental care is $$$$ and not covered by Medicare or Medicaid (unless your in a very special situation) so it's a good use of her $ for her.
She could also spend to get extra pair of glasses, hearing aids. Perhaps a better walker. Even extra clothes & shoes if you have a place to store them. (for my mom shoes were always going MIA). The NH laundry system tend to be big heavy duty machines that are rough on clothes so replacement is needed.
There was a poster on AC who was in a similar situation to you and what the facility did was to spend the entire amount in her moms at the NH PNA (was abt 3k) on a wheelchair. She was some kinda peeved but from the NH viewpoint it was that (which was a easy simple single action with the equipment coming from one of their regular vendors)) or have a resident become ineligible for Medicaid.
If you don't live in moms city, you as DPOA can list someone locally to be able to access the at the NH trust fund. (I lived in another state & named a local second cousin) For the two nh my mom was at you needed to go to the business office and sign out for the PNA $. This could be easy or not (for us was NOT). For both NH biz office open only weekdays & one required all transactions be done before noon. So for us keeping control of her PNA $ & paying the NH worked better.
If you live afar & aren't sure what mom needs ask the social worker at the Nh. SW are a font of independent knowledge and they can do a looksee in moms room & for moms appearance and get back to you. I would suggest again you spend down ASAP cause if moms state does an annual medicaid renewal & asks for several months of bank & PNA statements (Tx did & it was 4 months back to date of renewal form) & mom is over Medicaid limits...... Well in the words of the handsome & charming Ricky Ricardo "Lucy you got some splaining to jou". Will just be a total butt rash that is totally avoidable.
Today I asked the NH business office and they said that at her income level she was allowed up to $8,000 annually in all accounts. Could these amounts vary from state to state? Can I trust this info? Thanks.
Yes as although Medicaid is a joint federal & state program, it is administered uniquely by each state. So each state sets its policy & exact $ amount for things but within overall federal guidelines. For my mom - a widow in Texas - the maximum in exempt liquid assets was 2k but she could have funds also set aside for funeral/burial. She had a preneed done & paid for eons before & so I don't know what the $ amount ceiling would have been for that. I think for TX the funeral $ has to be earmarked in some way, so famiky cannot ho and spend it in another way. My guess is that the 8k younwere told is a combo of 2k liquid and 6k for funeral, but that's my best guess if she's the usual NH Medicaid recipient.
Personally I'd get the answer in writing with details from your states Medicaid program. If something is incorrect, the snafu is all on mom & you as her DPOA. There should be a caseworker assigned to mom or perhaps to meducaud residents at the NH. They are reachable by phone. For my mom, the social worker at her first NH gave me his name & phone # (he did her application review & he was assigned all NH & applicants by zip code; big case load). He was very straightforward & pretty dry humor & knew his regulations. I followed up phone calls with a fax to his attn recapping what my understanding was of the conversation (we went through H. katrina & I just do this on anything $$ important after dealing with insurers, govt, etc since that clusterF). Which he found amusing....... Please really follow up to make totally sure no blowback on moms $. Let us know what you find out.
Also while your at it, ask if moms state does an annual renewal. My moms state did of which I was unaware would happen. It required quite a bit of the items sent for the original application (life insurance policy, funeral policy, etc) plus last 4 mos of bank statements. The return time was 14 days from date of letter.
"The resource limit for individuals whose income is below 300% of the FBR ($2,163/month in 2014) is $2,000 for an individual, but the program also “disregards” $6,000 in assets, so you can actually have up to $8,000 in resources and still qualify. The resource limit for an individual whose income is above 300% of the FBR is $2,400" I read that the FBR for 2017 is $735 so 300% would be $2,205 however the law firm's website states that "the individual NMP income limit is $2,163/month". Either way, my mother qualifies. There is nothing stated about the additional funds having to be reserved for funeral costs.
I don't know if the NH will answer my questions in writing. Yesterday I sent an email and didn't get a response. In person they are very pleasant, accessible and helpful. I can send an email reiterating our conversation and asking for verification. Other than that, where can I get a clarification?
By the way, does this website have an option for personal messages? Your advice is very helpful but I'd rather write some things that don't appear online. Thank you for your help.
How its done kinda depends on how the resident is handling paying the NH. If they've made the NH the payee for their SS then the PNA is placed automatically into a resident account held at the NH. But if it's that they are continuing to have SS & other income going to their old bank account & DPOA is writing a check to the NH each month for the SOC, then the PNA says in their bank account but family can have a needs account set up at the NH to cover things. (I did it ths way for my mom). Whichever way you / DPOA needs to MAKE SuRE that the PNA does not exceed 2k as it will make mom ineligible for medicaid.
If mom goes to the on-site beauty shoppe at the NH, the stylist gets paid from the PNA.
Some NH charge for phone & cable which magically is the exact amount......
She could also spend to get extra pair of glasses, hearing aids. Perhaps a better walker. Even extra clothes & shoes if you have a place to store them. (for my mom shoes were always going MIA). The NH laundry system tend to be big heavy duty machines that are rough on clothes so replacement is needed.
There was a poster on AC who was in a similar situation to you and what the facility did was to spend the entire amount in her moms at the NH PNA (was abt 3k) on a wheelchair. She was some kinda peeved but from the NH viewpoint it was that (which was a easy simple single action with the equipment coming from one of their regular vendors)) or have a resident become ineligible for Medicaid.
If you don't live in moms city, you as DPOA can list someone locally to be able to access the at the NH trust fund. (I lived in another state & named a local second cousin) For the two nh my mom was at you needed to go to the business office and sign out for the PNA $. This could be easy or not (for us was NOT). For both NH biz office open only weekdays & one required all transactions be done before noon. So for us keeping control of her PNA $ & paying the NH worked better.
If you live afar & aren't sure what mom needs ask the social worker at the Nh. SW are a font of independent knowledge and they can do a looksee in moms room & for moms appearance and get back to you. I would suggest again you spend down ASAP cause if moms state does an annual medicaid renewal & asks for several months of bank & PNA statements (Tx did & it was 4 months back to date of renewal form) & mom is over Medicaid limits...... Well in the words of the handsome & charming Ricky Ricardo "Lucy you got some splaining to jou". Will just be a total butt rash that is totally avoidable.
Personally I'd get the answer in writing with details from your states Medicaid program. If something is incorrect, the snafu is all on mom & you as her DPOA. There should be a caseworker assigned to mom or perhaps to meducaud residents at the NH. They are reachable by phone. For my mom, the social worker at her first NH gave me his name & phone # (he did her application review & he was assigned all NH & applicants by zip code; big case load). He was very straightforward & pretty dry humor & knew his regulations. I followed up phone calls with a fax to his attn recapping what my understanding was of the conversation (we went through H. katrina & I just do this on anything $$ important after dealing with insurers, govt, etc since that clusterF). Which he found amusing....... Please really follow up to make totally sure no blowback on moms $. Let us know what you find out.
Also while your at it, ask if moms state does an annual renewal. My moms state did of which I was unaware would happen. It required quite a bit of the items sent for the original application (life insurance policy, funeral policy, etc) plus last 4 mos of bank statements. The return time was 14 days from date of letter.
"The resource limit for individuals whose income is below 300% of the FBR ($2,163/month in 2014) is $2,000 for an individual, but the program also “disregards” $6,000 in assets, so you can actually have up to $8,000 in resources and still qualify. The resource limit for an individual whose income is above 300% of the FBR is $2,400"
I read that the FBR for 2017 is $735 so 300% would be $2,205 however the law firm's website states that "the individual NMP income limit is $2,163/month". Either way, my mother qualifies. There is nothing stated about the additional funds having to be reserved for funeral costs.
I don't know if the NH will answer my questions in writing. Yesterday I sent an email and didn't get a response. In person they are very pleasant, accessible and helpful. I can send an email reiterating our conversation and asking for verification. Other than that, where can I get a clarification?
By the way, does this website have an option for personal messages? Your advice is very helpful but I'd rather write some things that don't appear online. Thank you for your help.
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