My mother has no assets, nothing left but her social security and VA payments she gets. She’s just short of qualifying for Medicaid. The qualification limit is $2,349 and her income is $2,457! Her monthly expenses come to $4,823 each month.
Her Alzheimer's is at the stage where she is paranoid, aggressive and aggravated most of the time.
My mother is 96 and physically healthy.
Part of her problem is she’s been spitting out her pills because she thinks they are trying to poison her!
Of course, most of those pills are to calm her emotional state, so they brought in Hospice Palliative Care to be a part of her care now. The goal is to find a way to administer her meds to make sure she’s getting them in her. Temporarily they are using injections and creams to try to get her back to the point she was just two months ago when she was mostly calm and happy. Recently she’s been going into rages and she slapped two nurses! That is not my mom. She wouldn’t do that in her right mind.
Anyway, she needs much more additional care and at the same time she’s out of money. The last of our resources was cashing in her life insurance policies.
So now she can only afford half of the cost to stay there. I’ve exhausted my research resources trying to find financial help. Up until just a few weeks ago Medicaid allowed subtracting a quarter of the VA money as “non-income“ which would have let her qualify. The government just took that option away. This has been their policy for at least a few years if not more, because I checked on all this a year ago so I wasn’t worried about her qualifying.
The Medicaid person I spoke with said they were all shocked when this order came through a few weeks ago. They have many people on Medicaid who use that system. So....I’m stressed to the hilt...she only has one more month she can pay and I don’t know what to do.
My mother must be in a facility with 24 hour care. Living with me would not be possible.
She lived with me for 7 years before Assisted Living.
Have any of you gone through not qualifying and desperately needing financial help? If so, what did you do?
I appreciate any comments and info.
thank you.
Medicare pays for hospice.
If this is a sudden change of mental status, has she been tested for a UTI, which can cause psychiatric symptoms?
yes, you need an eldercare attorney who understands Medicaid in her state.
I don't think an AL is obliged to help you find another place. Moms had no SW. These places are businesses. Our local one lost their accreditation with Medicaid and the families of those residents receiving it had to scurry to find other facilities.
What are Mom's other bills? Other than paying where she is now?
Sounds as though you are in a dreadful situation and I couldn't be more sorry for it. Is there a way that all assets of Mom's monthly can now go to a facility automatically.
You say she has other expenses, and there would not be money for them, so they would simply not be paid. Mom is on hospice now.
I think most importantly is that you must NOT take Mom home. To be frank, without someone accepting her though discharge they cannot chuck Mom out into the street, and their social workers will have to find a way to keep Mom in placement.
If you throw up your hands, it may come down to their seeking guardianship of the state, who will step in to manage Mom's assets and bills. But if you do it, they will let you.
Best thing you can do is hand them, if you are her Financial POA, the files, and wish them good luck. When they start on "what are you going to do" tell them that you can do nothing". Because honestly I don't see WHAT you can do about any of this. Have any of them made suggestions?
I hope someone else has a single idea what you can do. I surely don't.