if she has any assets (even if you are guardian of the assets), the state will decide what is "your fair share of money. I looked into this in New Mexico, and after ALL of the assets are gone, they might consider her social security as sufficient. I have been where you are and no one will tell you the truth about money. See and elder attorney (get referred from the local bar association) and pay the $200 for accurate legal advice.
Where & more importantly how is she currently living?
You say you have guardianship. Did you do a legal guardianship or conservatorship done before a judge for this or a quick guardianship granted because she had a mental breakdown or police called episode where she got admitted to a facility? I'm not an attorney but they seem to be different and what you can do depends on which type.
Do you have DPOA & MPOA for her? If so, you can contact her MD to have her admitted for psyc evaluation. Medicare will pay for some of this and some of the secondary insurer's also. She may need to be seen by a pyschiatrist before admission so the guardianship is good as you can make her go.
You need to read her policies and find a hospital that takes her insurance. BCBS does a book for each state with listings of their network providers. The doctors office will also have a short list of places. Having her admitted would be good as it gives you some time to find a long term care facility or LTC psyc facility for her.
Medicaid is different for each state, in general the ceiling is Two Thousand Dollars a month in assets. Some state are $ 2,020 some 2,050. Your state's website will have the info.
What are her assets? If she has 2K or less each month then she can apply for Medicaid. Her home (if it is still her primary residence with homestead exemption) and a car are NOT included in her monthly assets. If she has say 10K in savings you need to spend down on her care to get to the 2K. A month in psch ward and a new hearing aid will easily take care of spending 10 K down. Whatever her assets, they need to spend down for her direct care or owned asset (like paying property taxes or repair to her homestead) to qualify.
If she is one of those who have over the medicaid ceiling in monthly - say 1,000 in social security and 1,800 in retirement - then there are things you can do to have her qualify. This all depends on your state and must be done by a qualified elder care attorney to do it right so that you do not find that she is disqualified for several months due to asset transfer not related to her care.
The Medicaid application has specific items needed in order to qualify. It seems like alot but it is completely do-able, but you need to get organized to get it done. Remember the look back can be up to 5 years.
If you have anything co-mingled, this should be one of the first things changed to separate accounts. Like if your mom's SS is going into a joint account with you that your paycheck goes into. That needs to change asap.
Also if you are DPOA, you want to sign whatever paperwork "Mary Jones Smith as DPOA for Mary A. Jones", so that it eliminates them coming to you for payment for her stay or other not covered by insurance expenses. This is VERY important to do.
Guardianship doesn't mean you have no help from outside. Guardianship makes it your responsibility to keep her and others safe, so get the assistance you need to do so.
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I looked into this in New Mexico, and after ALL of the assets are gone, they might consider her social security as sufficient.
I have been where you are and no one will tell you the truth about money.
See and elder attorney (get referred from the local bar association) and pay the $200 for accurate legal advice.
Where & more importantly how is she currently living?
You say you have guardianship. Did you do a legal guardianship or conservatorship done before a judge for this or a quick guardianship granted because she had a mental breakdown or police called episode where she got admitted to a facility? I'm not an attorney but they seem to be different and what you can do depends on which type.
Do you have DPOA & MPOA for her? If so, you can contact her MD to have her admitted for psyc evaluation. Medicare will pay for some of this and some of the secondary insurer's also. She may need to be seen by a pyschiatrist before admission so the guardianship is good as you can make her go.
You need to read her policies and find a hospital that takes her insurance. BCBS does a book for each state with listings of their network providers. The doctors office will also have a short list of places. Having her admitted would be good as it gives you some time to find a long term care facility or LTC psyc facility for her.
Medicaid is different for each state, in general the ceiling is
Two Thousand Dollars a month in assets. Some state are $ 2,020 some 2,050. Your state's website will have the info.
What are her assets? If she has 2K or less each month then she can apply for Medicaid. Her home (if it is still her primary residence with homestead exemption) and a car are NOT included in her monthly assets. If she has say 10K in savings you need to spend down on her care to get to the 2K. A month in psch ward and a new hearing aid will easily take care of spending 10 K down. Whatever her assets, they need to spend down for her direct care or owned asset (like paying property taxes or repair to her homestead) to qualify.
If she is one of those who have over the medicaid ceiling in monthly - say 1,000 in social security and 1,800 in retirement -
then there are things you can do to have her qualify. This all depends on your state and must be done by a qualified elder care attorney to do it right so that you do not find that she is disqualified for several months due to asset transfer not related to her care.
The Medicaid application has specific items needed in order to qualify. It seems like alot but it is completely do-able, but you need to get organized to get it done. Remember the look back can be up to 5 years.
If you have anything co-mingled, this should be one of the first things changed to separate accounts. Like if your mom's
SS is going into a joint account with you that your paycheck goes into. That needs to change asap.
Also if you are DPOA, you want to sign whatever paperwork
"Mary Jones Smith as DPOA for Mary A. Jones", so that it eliminates them coming to you for payment for her stay or other not covered by insurance expenses.
This is VERY important to do.
Good luck.
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