Medicare/Medicaid

[hamsterjill]

Not sure this is the right forum for this question, but I have elderly parents and need advice and facts on Medicaid.

Any suggestions on where I could get some concise facts about what assets they can/cannot have to qualify? They have a small savings account, own a small home that is need of repair and live on social security.

Any thoughts? Anyone else dealt with this before? Many thanks!!!

[hyphenate]

1. You need to contact your state office for Medicaid

to ask them directly. Here in Massachusetts, it's called MassHealth, and in California, it's Medi-Cal, so you will have to check in your state.

You can call 1-800-MEDICARE to get the Medicare information, you can also contact Social Security. If your parents are collecting SS, they are probably on Medicare already, unless they have a private health plan from their old jobs kick in. You can visit medicare.gov in order to see what is covered under that--depending on whether it's actual care, medical supplies or prescriptions, a different part of Medicare applies: Most everyone has Part A, Part B would handle things like wheelchairs, canes, diabetic supplies, etc. It costs a small amount to add it to the patient's account. Part D is, of course, the drug plan, and that's difficult to really understand. You need to talk with an SS rep to help decide what is the best plan for the patient, because there are a lot of plans, and you pay different amounts for premiums, and the formulary for each is slightly different.

Sorry I can't help with anything detailed, but it's all done on an individual basis, and the experts can help you much better.

[mopinko]

2. are you asking about long term care?

is this for one or both? usually a surviving spouse is allowed to stay in the home, and i believe keep some assets for their own care.
not sure you will get a lot of help in this forum. other "legalistic" questions tend to go unanswered. my advise is to post it in gd, or the lounge, and kick it till you get some answers.
there are attorneys out there who specialize in this stuff. i think they are often worth the money.
my sister is in long term care, and my brother in law kept the house. not sure about savings and all, but they did have a lawyer take care of it all.

[elleng]

3. There's a dollar amount of investments,

over which they will be disqualified from medicaid.

Folks at the institutions (nursing homes, etc.) have the info, and should provide it to you if you're inquiring.

Sounds to me that they would qualify for medicaid.