Have a friend who has MS no family its now to the point he will soon be in a wheel chair but others wise can handle most things but needs help with house work grocery shopping ect.
Medicare is really about paying for hospitalization, physician services, other professional health care providers services, prescriptions. Medicare doesn't pay for services that enable you to do your ADL's (Activities of Daily Living).
Now IF a physician writes orders for their patient that assistance is needed for a specific function - like for assistance in bathing or for gait (walking) - then Medicare will cover this as it is medically required. They will have to work with their MD to get these things done as you have to have medical orders before Medicare will pay at all. But if this is about having someone make them a sandwich or do a load of laundry or run to the grocery store or pick up a prescription for them, that is not covered by Medicare. I think your best bet is to contact your local MS society to see what programs or services are within your community & how to qualify. They should qualify easily for a Meals on Wheels program and other community based assisting activity. It may not always be what they want to do - like it could be one of those where a van picks you up and you have to go to the library for some community info meeting or a health fair but then afterwards the van takes everybody to the local grocery store then they all get dropped off back at their home. There are aides on the trip too to help everybody walk, shop, etc. Understand?
What they probably are needing is "service provision". Service provision is the code word for a Personal Care Assistant, home health aide, etc.
It may be that your friend will need to move to a "congregate" housing. This is a HUD program that exists in most states. Since it's HUD it doesn't have quite the impoverishment requirements that Medicaid (Medicaid not Medicare) requires for a nursing home. Medicaid & Medicare are DHHS services - Health & Human Services. HUD is Housing & Urban Development. Congregate is NOT a nursing home or medical care facility. Congregate is kinda like a group home but for those who are still mentally capable (some still have jobs & work & drive) but cannot live in a traditional home or apartment. The one I know about in my mom's city is a large home that seems to have 6 residents which 3 are younger amputee's and wheelchair bound.
You know you may want to ask your friend what their SS situation is like. They may be able to get a SS supplement due to their disability.
My experience is that what often happens with the handicapped is that as they age and that since they worked and were totally functional in the past, they now just find they have too much $ or assets to qualify for things. If they have any extra money or income that could be an issue in the future (like too much $ to get onto Medicaid or to qualify for low-income housing in the future), they should look into setting up a "special needs trust" that their extra $ goes into. I have a cousin who had polio as a child in the 1950's. He now has major secondary polio - still sharp and technology savvy - but cannot physically do things. My aunt & uncle set up a special needs trust for him decades ago thank goodness. So he is able to qualify for lots more services as his personal income is low enough. The trust gets used to pay for things that the state or the fed's never will….like he got his car all retrofitted so he can drive and got these automatic lighting & opening retrofitting done on his home which was paid out of his special needs trust. If they have any real money or assets doing this can be quite a good thing. Good luck on all this and thank you for caring for your friend.
Now IF a physician writes orders for their patient that assistance is needed for a specific function - like for assistance in bathing or for gait (walking) - then Medicare will cover this as it is medically required. They will have to work with their MD to get these things done as you have to have medical orders before Medicare will pay at all. But if this is about having someone make them a sandwich or do a load of laundry or run to the grocery store or pick up a prescription for them, that is not covered by Medicare. I think your best bet is to contact your local MS society to see what programs or services are within your community & how to qualify. They should qualify easily for a Meals on Wheels program and other community based assisting activity. It may not always be what they want to do - like it could be one of those where a van picks you up and you have to go to the library for some community info meeting or a health fair but then afterwards the van takes everybody to the local grocery store then they all get dropped off back at their home. There are aides on the trip too to help everybody walk, shop, etc. Understand?
What they probably are needing is "service provision". Service provision is the code word for a Personal Care Assistant, home health aide, etc.
It may be that your friend will need to move to a "congregate" housing. This is a HUD program that exists in most states. Since it's HUD it doesn't have quite the impoverishment requirements that Medicaid (Medicaid not Medicare) requires for a nursing home. Medicaid & Medicare are DHHS services - Health & Human Services. HUD is Housing & Urban Development. Congregate is NOT a nursing home or medical care facility. Congregate is kinda like a group home but for those who are still mentally capable (some still have jobs & work & drive) but cannot live in a traditional home or apartment. The one I know about in my mom's city is a large home that seems to have 6 residents which 3 are younger amputee's and wheelchair bound.
You know you may want to ask your friend what their SS situation is like. They may be able to get a SS supplement due to their disability.
My experience is that what often happens with the handicapped is that as they age and that since they worked and were totally functional in the past, they now just find they have too much $ or assets to qualify for things. If they have any extra money or income that could be an issue in the future (like too much $ to get onto Medicaid or to qualify for low-income housing in the future), they should look into setting up a "special needs trust" that their extra $ goes into. I have a cousin who had polio as a child in the 1950's. He now has major secondary polio - still sharp and technology savvy - but cannot physically do things. My aunt & uncle set up a special needs trust for him decades ago thank goodness. So he is able to qualify for lots more services as his personal income is low enough. The trust gets used to pay for things that the state or the fed's never will….like he got his car all retrofitted so he can drive and got these automatic lighting & opening retrofitting done on his home which was paid out of his special needs trust. If they have any real money or assets doing this can be quite a good thing. Good luck on all this and thank you for caring for your friend.