Is there any way to speed up the Medicaid application process?

I have been advised that in Maryland, one must actually be in a facility and the application is made at the facility. Then the payment is made to the facility from the day of admission if qualified.

Suzi - I don't know how it is for your state for Medicaid, but for my mom in TX, Medicaid for NH is done on a separate track than for "community" based Medicaid services. They both are administered by the state, but the NH ones seem to be processed sooner if they are "Medicaid Pending" already in a NH. The NH is billing the state regular too.

What happened when you looked at NH? is there a reason why she couldn't get admitted as "Medicaid Pending"? IS there a reason to wait to move her to NH?

You know the next fall she has (and there will be another one) may solve your situation…..if she falls and can be hospitalized (not under observation either) for 3 or more full days, then she can be released from the hospital to a NH for "rehab". Rehab post hospitalization is a 20 day MediCARE paid for benefit. If the NH takes Medicaid (which most do but you need to make sure they do), then at the end of her Medicare paid for "rehab" she applies for Medicaid for her long term care continued stay. She will have the fat medical file too now to show the need for skilled nursing services too. You will be ahead of the curve too as you have her Medicaid application in the system.

Oh my mom's Medicaid for NH application took almost 5 months, was 3 years & 6 months of financials and I had an appeal for a transfer penalty to work through at about month 5 on my mom's car. She had a medical appeal done the initial month, which the NH dealt with and that took like 3 months to clear. 6 months to get total approval and then Medicaid retro'd payment to the NH 6 months. Oh for more fun, NH sent monthly bills at private pay rate & late fees too with a "Deferred for Medicaid Pending" sentence on the invoice.

I am not sure how NY handles Medicaid applications, but in lovely Michigan your mom would have hers expedited if she is on the hospital and hospital's caseworker is applying for her considering that she can't live alone. Just a suggestion! And sure calling once a week is very "polite" ... call every day and annoy them!

I was told Medicaid took about 45 days. My dad's situation was very simple and straightforward. He didn't have assets or a house or a car, just his monthly income and pension. It took us months to get him approved for Medicaid. I called the caseworker once a week to see how things were going but it just dragged on and on and on. By the time my dad was approved he had already died.

You really can't do much but you can try to:
1. Ask facility to accept her while waiting for the approval with that little $ she has now.
2. Reach for community (relatives, friends, church, local agencies who can help) to find day time helper(s)
3. Sign her up for day care program. Some of them have grants.
Good luck!