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Recently my mother has had a medical issue that is changing her ability to care for herself. Her home is in OH ours in TX.

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A determining factor in successfully & easily doing this is MONEY. Next factor is her assessment as to Level of Care she requires to go about her daily life, like is she a SnF/NH resident care? or MC? or would be ok in an AL? I’m assuming mom is over age 65, on Medicare and some other health insurance coverage OR she is on a Medicare Advantage Plan and she has a home.

On how to get an assessment…..Where is she? Is she currently hospitalized? Are you up in Ohio and hospital staff is telling you she cannot return home. Or she’s in rehabilitation at an NH and they are telling you this? Or she is telling you this? You want to have an actual assessment document on her so that you have something to use to try to find her a facility in TX appropriate for her needs. The hospital or facility has a care plan for her based on an assessment. You really don’t want to get all involved in looking for a MC place when she absolutely requires a SNF/NH.

On the $, so does she have abt 150K - 200K in savings or investments she can use? Not her monthly income but her other $ resources. That is kinda imo what she needs to have to do the transition from 1 State to another, pay for the new place, new legal and pay for settling out of her past life in Ohio and get this all wrapped up in abt a year. If she cannot travel on her own with you accompanying her, then she will need a medical transportation for this; & they are very expensive. Health insurance- like Medicare- won’t pay for this. It’s private pay.

If y’all were thinking that TX Medicaid would pay for her NH, that could happen but realistically will not happen immediately. She will have to become a legal TX resident…. It can be done. Look at TXDOt for what you need to get TX drivers license or permanent ID as to what all State will want. Being a resident of the State is required as Medicaid is a State run program for its residents.
If she is low income enough once a resident, she can file for a TX Medicaid program. For LTC Medicaid program, which pays for facilities, for 2024 had income max of $2829 and a nonexempt asset max of 2K. If she’s over on either she will have to try to reduced her income (like via a Miller Trust as TX allows for these) and will have to spend down her assets till at the 2K max. If she has a home or car(s) in Ohio, that will be a problem as they will be considered nonexempt assets. They will have to be sold.

There is some leeway on this that she or you as her POA can ask to get it so that she can have the house listed with a Realtor on MLS and it will be ok for her to be “Medicaid Pending” till it sells at its FMV. The NH she is in also has to be ok on her being there as “Pending”. It’s not an automatic option, it has to be done on an individual applicants request. Once it sells, she becomes ineligible and does private pay till she is once again impoverished at 2K max in assets. No gifting can be done with house sale money.

Having a home or a car, whether in the same State or out of State, poses real problems for POAs trying to get an elderly parent on LTC Medicaid. The big stumbling block is once they file for LTC Medicaid they have a Share of Cost requirement. SOC means all their monthly income but $75 (in TX) must be paid to the NH. So you as POA end up paying for stuff related to that house and car AND as it’s her asset she cannot easily reimburse you after it gets sold as it looks like gifting which is a no-no for LTC Medicaid. That’s why I mentioned her having 150K-200K as that’s enough $ to pay for her care and also pay for all those things that a house costs and that putting a home on the market costs AND having it be her $ that pays for these costs.

Some things can come out of house sale, like property taxes. But utilities, insurance, yard maintenance, etc. all have to be paid and need to happen so the house can stay market ready.

Even if she does not have a home, she’s living somewhere in Ohio and it will have costs to close out her life in Ohio.
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Reply to igloo572
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I guess it's fine if you want to move your mother closer to you in TX, but for the love of God, DO NOT move her in with you, no matter what, as you will live to regret that.
Instead move her into a nice assisted living facility(on her dime of course)where she will be looked after 24/7, and where you can still have your life, and visit when and if you want.
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Reply to funkygrandma59
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What type of guidance are you looking for ? Are you asking about homecare , facility care , the actual logistics of getting her to Texas ?

More info would be helpful including what medical conditions Mom has , does she walk , feed herself etc.
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Reply to waytomisery
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