I'm moving to Maine and want to get my grandma on Medicaid. Is there a way to make the transition smooth while moving? My grandma in CT is set up with 21 hours a week help with caregiving. She's on Medicare right now and Connecticut has elderly services that pay some leaving us with 7% to pay and I handle the other hours without care and am not getting paid. In Maine I'd like to return back to work (so I can have insurance and not get fined for not having any) and have grandma on medicaid but I'm scared she will have a huge lapse of time without services. She uses her services right now to get a daily bath, to be dressed, and fed lunch giving me a 3 hour a day break to run errands and pack up the house. In Maine at first for the summer it will be to run errands and unpack a house.
Has anyone moved out of state with their loved one on medicare and managed to get care right away? I know I have to apply for Medicaid and I was told it was a lengthy process. Is there a way to have it be speeded up? Can I apply using the Maine address since we have the house and we are fixing it up before we get there and have her approved before I officially move into the house then stop services in Connecticut the day I move and have stuff already set up when we arrive or is that illegal? I just dont want to be in a house, overwhelmed with care, and have her with her with severe dementia scared stiff while I try to unpack and paint up the house to have it ready to be a true home. She hates to be alone in a room and does crazy things when that happens. I just want to avoid an accident before it happens by having someone there with her while I have a few hours to myself.
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In a nutshell, for Medicaid, I'd suggest you plan for having 6 mos of funds to private pay for whatever level of services grannie needs. It could take at least that amount of time to establish residency, be able to get documentation needed for Maine programs, etc. Medicare will transition more easily but you will need to find MDs who accept Medicare in thier practice AND will take new patients and what you need to bring from grannies old MD to have this happen. Finding a new doc may be the hard part. If ME has a medical school with a health science center, it could have a gerontogy dept that will accept new patients. So look into that possibility.
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