Hi,
First of all, let me thank you all in advance for reading this and your helpful answers. So my grandmother started having the symptoms of dementia about 2 years ago and today at 77 years old she is at the point where you can talk to her normally, but tomorrow will forget the whole conversation. Slowly I'm noticing she is forgetting to shower or even eat lunch. I know at some point I will have to get some sort of assistance for her, but what I am trying to figure out is how to pay for all of this. From what I've found her Medicare Insurance doesn't cover in home or nursing home care. So I'm kind of lost as where to go. I've looked up prices for care and there's no way I can afford it, even if we used all of her SS monthly income. She also does have some money set aside, but it would honestly only pay for a little over 3 months of nursing home care. It just seems like a waste to spend all her hard earned savings on 3 months of care. The crazy thing is, other than her dementia she is very healthy and can continue living for a good while. I was wondering if anyone else is in this similar predicament and has any tips or a guide of what to do. I'm asking now so I can prepare for the future so this doesn't all just hit my family by surprise. We live in Texas and if you need anymore information to better assist with my question feel free to ask and I will respond.
Thank you!
You are wise to be looking at this ahead of need. It may take some time to get everything in place, so start now. A usual starting point is to have a needs assessment done. For our mother we called the Human Services department of her county. Other posters have reported they got that service from the Area Agency on Aging.
If she has present needs, she will most likely be advised to apply for Medicaid. To qualify she is going to have to spend most of her savings first. It can be on a few months of the level of help she needs, or on items for herself like a deluxe wheelchair, and several pair of shoes, a new wardrobe of clothing easy to put on, etc. etc.
I don't know what is available in Texas, but here she might be awarded some in-home care for as long as she would be safe at home. This could be things like housekeeping, nurse visits, arranging for meals on wheels, etc. Then everything would be in place when she needed to move into a care center.
One way or another, she is going to have to spend her savings on her care. And she is responsible for the costs for her care -- not you!
Since your Grandmother wouldn't be able to budget for Assisted Living/Memory Care, she could apply for Medicaid [which is different from Medicare]. Each State is different so you would need to call your State Medicaid office to see what is available. You might be able to keep Grandmother in her home a bit longer. Otherwise Grandmother would need to move into a nursing home but from what you wrote, it doesn't sounds like she is ready for that.
Some States offer what is called a Medicaid Waiver which can be use to help pay for Assisted Living/Memory care, that money is added to Grandmother's monthly income to pay for the facility care. Medicaid is a taxpayer funded program, and programs can be changed or cut depending on State budgets.
Only thing else would be for a family member to make arrangements to keep an eye on your Grandmother. If there is enough family in the area, you all could work as a team to help out with chores.