My mother has no assets and very little money. What is the next step if family can't afford to pay the facility at the time of her release from rehab?

Dear Charlie,

I'm so sorry, I know this is a very stressful situation. Have you tried talking to social worker about your mom's options? Given her age surely they can escalate her application. I hope the social worker will be able to give you all your options.

Charlie, are you in the US? If so, if a patient does not have a safe place to return to (i.e. with adequate care) then the rehab facility needs to find them a place. I thought that was the standard across the country but maybe someone will correct me.

Cdnreader is right; talk to the social worker (and the physician probably too) at rehab. Tell them you are concerned that your mom needs more care than she will get at home and that you need help with the next step. Be firm with them.

Nursing homes say they don't accept "Medicaid Pending" but will usually waive that for rehab patients. If you haven't already done so, research and/or visit nursing homes in your area that accept Medicaid, just in case your rehab facility does not have a long term care Medicaid bed available. They may need to transfer her to a different facility. It helps to know which facilities are ok and which you'd rather avoid.

Medicaid can reimburse up to 90 days back, but it seems like approval for nursing home Medicaid happens much faster, especially if the person's finances are straight-forward. The person in the business office should be able to advise you about that.

Good luck -- I hope your mom finds a spot at a place with caring staff!

Don't take her home. It's easier to get her placed from rehab and once home it can be impossible. I had my mother in law apply (with my help) for SSI which helped pay for her assisted living. I walked the paperwork through to speed things up.

Hello! I was in this pickle with my mother as well...but she is much younger. She suffered a stroke in March at age 59. She is simply not able to live by herself and already on Social Security so she can't afford the full time care she requires.

My advice is find a social worker, compliment him/her often, and follow their every word!

There are places that will accept Medicaid Pending, that's what we are able to do with my mom. The social worker will know where those places are and which one is the best.

In the past three months I've come to learn that if I try to do the leg work I stress myself out turning in 1,000 directions. But when I go to the social worker they say, "oh, you need to do this and this." And it works perfectly!

Take a deep breath, and find a social worker ASAP!!!

She was living (self-pay) somewhere before rehab? Communicate the situation to the social worker at the rehab facility and convey there is nowhere for her to go. Under no circumstances let them talk you or anyone else into taking mom home until this gets sorted out. The sooner the better.

In NY, Medicaid can be retroactive for up to 3 months as long as you provide the bills and paperwork required. So, you may be able to get money back that is spent prior to Medicaid approval.

Call your local Elder Services. They will have a local agency come in the home and care for her-on a limited amount of hours-for free, depending on her income. Since she is low income, she will qualify. My father is having Bayada Nurses come in a few hours a week b/c he is low income. But call soon as it takes a couple of weeks to get going.

Don't most states have state run Nursing Homes? I know Texas does. Granted, they aren't the best, but with continued monitoring they might be the answer.

There are Medicaid Ombudsmen  that are there to help with big problems .look for those phone numbers on your state Medicaid site. Also can try calling some of your political Representativesand escalate the issue toget the Medicaid issue squared away -she sounds entirely like she qualifies for Medicaid and should be placed in a facility with Medicaid beds

Yes, talk with the social worker and emphasize she can't come home with you. She's 98, they will have to put her somewhere. Don't let them bully you or talk you out of it. My mother had dementia and fell and split her head open, it looked like! We were in the ER for 11 hours and she got one stitch and I hesitantly asked the doctor if she could be admitted for a day or so. NO. He said she was ready to go home, and if she was admitted to the hospital she would be charged $2000 a day, or something like that. Took her home, but got her in a nursing home Medicaid pending within a couple of months, no thanks to that doctor! Talk to social services. The doctors don't care.