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Mom has less than $10,000 to her name, no assets, no nothing. That doesn't seem like enough to self-pay before Medicaid would kick in. I'm struggling to figure out what this will look like in case of a critical event.

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JoAnn is correct. The usual steps should be:

1) get access to her finances,
2) find a facility that takes both private pay and Medicaid,
3) use her money to prepay one or more months private pay in said facility to establish her room and meet spend down,
4) apply for Medicaid immediately upon placement in facility -- the clock is ticking at that point,
5) upon Medicaid approval, switch the paperwork at the facility from private pay to Medicaid.
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Reply to MyNameIsTrouble
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Mom doesn't need to be diagnosed with Dementia to be on Medicaid she just needs to be 24/7 care.

Its so much easier to get them in a facility with private pay. 10k would maybe get her a month. With my Mom, she had 20k. That gave her 2 months in LTC which gave me time to apply for Medicaid, spend down and get info needed to Medicaid. The third month Medicaid kicked in. You need to apply 60 to 90 days before the money runs out.

Contact Social Services and talk to a Medicaid caseworker to see what your States criteria is.
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Reply to JoAnn29
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Has your mom's facility not accepted her with Medicaid pending?
This could be a problem.
Essentially it would leave a bill, but that bill is Mom's and clearly won't be paid until and unless there are any funds upon her death.
This is why Medicaid needs to be applied for so early.
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Reply to AlvaDeer
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Stardust Jul 19, 2025
We're not actually to that point in the process yet of having a place for her to go. We're trying to get her diagnosed with dementia, but she doesn't *yet* require nursing home level of care (which is when our state deems that she is eligible for Medicaid). I am going to start calling around on Monday to get her name on waiting lists at different facilities in hopes of something miraculously being available right when we need it. So, as long as I do everything correctly once my POA kicks in, then I won't be responsible, right?
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