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Igloo, actually the '14 large' is what is on the Medicaid acceptance paperwork...so that's what Medicaid is paying. My jaw almost hit the table when I saw that.

I know that the rates for nursing homes vary greatly throughout the country.
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Tony thanks for the info on NY. You know the 14large may be the private pay rate and not whatever the state of NY is reinbursing the NH. My mom's NH in TX is $ 8,900 for private pay but takes Medicaid and the state reinbursement rate is under $ 145.00 a day or about $5,300.00 a year. Quite a gap. The NH does NOT take long term care insurance though. My mom spends her $ 60 on the beauty shop, candy and hair barrette's and the occasional magazine.
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igloo572- I am in NY and Mom is currently a resident at a skilled nursing facility in Oakdale, NY.

I know that Medicaid is a joint Federal/State program so maybe the guidelines are different for each state.

The way it works for us is that Mom's Social Security check is taken by Medicaid less $50 a month that gets deposited into her business account at the nursing home.

There is no cable bill or any other bills (but then again at $14,000 a month they bill the government there better not be). That $50 is for her BINGO, nails and the occasional trip they take to a restaurant for lunch.

My brother and I supplement that when it gets low...and also bring Mom her 'goodies' each week...chips and snacks, stuff like that, to try and make the place as much like home as possible,
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Tony - what state is your mom in? I'm just curious as to how states differ in the "allowance". For Texas it's $ 60 a month & really I think was set at that amount as cable is like $ 40 a mo & hairdresser $ 20 and most NH don't provide for cable
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Yes...the reason for this is that the typical nursing home costs $10,000-$14,000 a MONTH. My mother does receive $50 a month for incidentals, get her nails and hair done, play BINGO, etc...at the facility but the rest is taken by Medicaid to defray nursing home costs.
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Medicaid is a needs-based entitlement program. For NH Medicaid, the state will require (unless there is a community spouse or other significant legal circumstance) that ALL of their monthly income LESS their personal needs allowance is paid to the NH. So say mom get's $ 800 in SS and $ 1,000 in retirement/annunity a month; her monthly income is $ 1,800.00 and her state has the personal needs allowance @ $ 60 a month. Then every month she has to pay the NH $ 1,740.00 in order to be in compliance with Medicaid's requirements. The $ 60 can either be in her bank account or some NH require that it goes into a separate individual trust account @ the NH and then you withdraw as needed for her clothing, shoes, etc or she can withdraw on the trust account to pay for the hairdresser @ the NH or buy from the canteen @ the NH.

If mom has debt like a mortgage or still owns her home or a car, then it is going to be difficult for her to pay the whatever's for those items. Realistically if she has a home or car, then family will have to pay for all related to the home (insurance, yard work, utilities, taxes) as the $ from her personal needs allowance isn't enough to pay for her things needed for her NH stay (like a monthly beauty shop visit) and house stuff. Good luck.
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Yes.

That is, your mother will be expected to pay her own way to the extent that she can.

If your mother is married and her husband is still in their home, then part of her check may be used for his upkeep. Having a spouse in the community does change things a bit.
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