What we did with my parents and my in-laws was long before we had them take out a living trust. That's the first step to also protecting their assets. Their home and their automobile cannot be taken away or considered when totaling assets. By having all of their assets in trust the government can't tap into their bank accounts etc. since it is in the trust. When the time comes and you have to place your friend, parents, or in-laws once Medicare has been depleted for custodial care then they will usually qualify for Medicaid. If they're already in a facility quite often they will file for Medicaid or let you know what you need to do to keep them in the facility if they accept Medicaid.
We did all of these years ago and have done it for ourselves. Check and see what the current laws are now, federally and in your state.
Is your friends legal papers all done? If so, who is the POA ? If not that’s first.. durable POA , medical POA , will, living will … all can be downloaded on computer , filled out , signed with notary republic..
the way someone is taken care of when out of funds is thru Medicaid. The person needs to also qualify medically. Call your county office of aged and disabilities… they can give you information and support over the process. When I started down this road, that’s where I went. My mom passed two days before our appointment for the specialist to input the information into the system. She would have filled out the application along with all the necessary documentation from the last five years (Wisconsin) .. when it was financially time , she sends the application.
if your looking for placement, google : care advisors, find someone local to work with. These people are invaluable! I have used someone 3 times. They know what’s available, needs, cost, etc… they are not paid by you , paid by the facility. I used a franchise called care patrol twice .. Google them , they may have one in your area.. otherwise find someone local. I cannot stress the value of care advisors.
If this is for your friend who is not family, you as her POA can do it but will not be easy. If you do not already have yourself as a signatory on her banking, this will make it all even harder. if she can seem at all competent and cognitive, I think that banking change needs to be done ASAP, hopefully where she banks also has branches in your city. Also she goes online to SSA to set up her online so that the two of you can access it as needed as SSA does not recognize POA.
You want to get her moved to your city as you take care of incidentals, like buy her new clothes, shoes, books etc. right? And she’s running out of $, right?
To me what would be easiest would be dependent on how much $ she has left, if she has 8-10 months of $ to private pay, I’d suggest that you look for a NH that does LTC Medicaid but move her in as a private pay resident ASAP. The new place will need to do a needs assessment on her to make sure that they can do whatever level of care she needs. This can be sticky cause if in another city, someone will have to pay for the assessment team time to do this unless her old place has a very detailed and constantly updated health chart on her.
IF she doesn’t have $ left and needs to file for LTC Medicaid really soon and the facility she is in right now takes LTC Medicaid, personally if it were me, I’d let her stay there and file for Medicaid. You as POA work with them to get all the paperwork done to get her eligible. Most NH have a list of the items needed to accompany her application. You need to find them & as POA it’s something you should have on hand in a binder and update as needed for her lifetime. if shes been in a facility private pay, it may be a 3 yr lookback (not the usual 5) on her financials and why you need access to her banking. Anyways her application is filed and she become LTC Medicaid eligible. Maybe 3 months. Then since she is fully LTC Medicaid eligible, she can move to another open LTC Medicaid bed anywhere in the state IF they can meet her level of care. So you move her maybe month 4. Should she not be able to move by traveling in your car with you, she will need to pay for a nonEMS medical transfer privately.
Trying to do any of this without you having POA and without you being a signatory on her financials will be very difficult. It would probably mean you’d have to get an attorney (7-10k) and file to become her guardian. If she has kids, Court may want to hear from them as to why they are not POA or trying to themselves be her guardian.
it’s a tough situation. How wonderful you are there for her.
The state pays for the facility (Medicaid). If the facility the patient is in does not accept Medicaid, than family or social worker needs to plan to transition to another facility that does.
We did all of these years ago and have done it for ourselves. Check and see what the current laws are now, federally and in your state.
the way someone is taken care of when out of funds is thru Medicaid. The person needs to also qualify medically. Call your county office of aged and disabilities… they can give you information and support over the process. When I started down this road, that’s where I went. My mom passed two days before our appointment for the specialist to input the information into the system. She would have filled out the application along with all the necessary documentation from the last five years (Wisconsin) .. when it was financially time , she sends the application.
if your looking for placement, google : care advisors, find someone local to work with. These people are invaluable! I have used someone 3 times. They know what’s available, needs, cost, etc… they are not paid by you , paid by the facility. I used a franchise called care patrol twice .. Google them , they may have one in your area.. otherwise find someone local. I cannot stress the value of care advisors.
good luck … research research research
if she can seem at all competent and cognitive, I think that banking change needs to be done ASAP, hopefully where she banks also has branches in your city. Also she goes online to SSA to set up her online so that the two of you can access it as needed as SSA does not recognize POA.
You want to get her moved to your city as you take care of incidentals, like buy her new clothes, shoes, books etc. right?
And she’s running out of $, right?
To me what would be easiest would be dependent on how much $ she has left, if she has 8-10 months of $ to private pay, I’d suggest that you look for a NH that does LTC Medicaid but move her in as a private pay resident ASAP. The new place will need to do a needs assessment on her to make sure that they can do whatever level of care she needs. This can be sticky cause if in another city, someone will have to pay for the assessment team time to do this unless her old place has a very detailed and constantly updated health chart on her.
IF she doesn’t have $ left and needs to file for LTC Medicaid really soon and the facility she is in right now takes LTC Medicaid, personally if it were me, I’d let her stay there and file for Medicaid. You as POA work with them to get all the paperwork done to get her eligible. Most NH have a list of the items needed to accompany her application. You need to find them & as POA it’s something you should have on hand in a binder and update as needed for her lifetime.
if shes been in a facility private pay, it may be a 3 yr lookback (not the usual 5) on her financials and why you need access to her banking. Anyways her application is filed and she become LTC Medicaid eligible. Maybe 3 months. Then since she is fully LTC Medicaid eligible, she can move to another open LTC Medicaid bed anywhere in the state IF they can meet her level of care. So you move her maybe month 4.
Should she not be able to move by traveling in your car with you, she will need to pay for a nonEMS medical transfer privately.
Trying to do any of this without you having POA and without you being a signatory on her financials will be very difficult. It would probably mean you’d have to get an attorney (7-10k) and file to become her guardian. If she has kids, Court may want to hear from them as to why they are not POA or trying to themselves be her guardian.
it’s a tough situation. How wonderful you are there for her.