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It comes in on the 31st instead of the 1st. Do I have to get her to $ .00? Then how do we pay the Insurance and co-pays?

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Each month you have to pay your mom's cost of care to the nursing home (if she is on LTC Medicaid) or you pay the facility for a month's stay. You may be paying for insurances and personal needs items as well. A few days overlap shouldn't make a difference. If she is on Medicaid, her balance should not be over the $2000.00 for her annual review. Contact your local Area Agency on Aging or Bureau of Senior Services, they have staff that will be able to answer your questions; you can also ask to speak with the long term care ombudsman who will be glad to answer any questions you have about long term care.
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If your state does an annual Medicaid renewal, you probably need to find something to spend like $ 500.00 soon so that there is each month bank statements clearly showing she is under 2K in beginning and ending balance for Medicaid compliance. For my mom's renewal, they ask for 4 months of bank statements and if the balance had been over 2K she would have gotten an ineligibility inquiry letter. Just a total PIA to deal with so you want to avoid this sort of issue at all costs (pun intended).

See if the beauty shop at the NH will let you prepay for 6 months of hair salon. Maybe buy her a couple of new pair of eyeglasses or a new hearing aid or a tricked out walker; maybe a few multiyear large print magazine subscriptions. Just whatever to take the balance down to slightly under the "overage".

On retrospect, I would have done part of mom's spend-down with buying mom a dz pairs of those hideous but comfy SAS shoes that she loved as they just flew out of her room MIA. Easily $ 500.
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You only have to get her to $2000, not 0. A few days overlap should not make any difference, unless it falls at the renewal date. Discuss this with her caseworker. He or she can advise you how to deal with it around renewal time.

I know from experience that it can be a tedious process to get in touch with a caseworker but it is a reasonable and helpful thing to do. Just don't wait until 3 days before the renewal papers are due! Telephone tag can last that long. Start the process when there is no pressure for an immediate answer. If Mom has both a social worker and a financial worker, try the financial worker first.
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BTW, you don't have to maintain her account at the maximum allowed. Don't be afraid to make needed significant purchases. With the seasons about to change, for example, consider whether she has some wardrobe needs. If she spends a lot of time in bed, is it time for a new set of nice sheets? I know it is nice to have that $2000 cushion, and I'm not suggesting spending frivolously, but if the account is always on the edge of being over, consider if there are some things she needs and would take pleasure in.
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You make the NH the representative payee.
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Pam, why? And often this situation arises before someone is in a nursing home. We dealt with this for our mother for several years while she lived at home.

Cyoung, where is your mother living at this point?

I think this post is a good example of why filling out the profile and/or providing more information in the initial post is very helpful. I answered thinking about a recipient living in the community, and Pam's perspective was of the recipient living in a nursing home. It helps if we know the situation!
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My mom is in a nursing home. Cyoung
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