It's become time for my 91 year old father to go to a care facility, he doesn't qualify for Medicaid and I can't pay the cost. What do I do?

Sorry, I didn't explain myself clearly. He applied for long term care Medicaid. He brings in $1800/mo. I will check out "Miller Trust". Today, I took a nap and he left the house. We live in the country off a small lake and he walked down the hill, fell and it took me an hour to find him. We have to do something. I'll call tomorrow and see what I can find out about the nursing home taking him and waiting until our house closes, that we are selling, and we will have to put the money towards him being in the nursing home. I have to have him safe.

I was in the same situation as you about 6 years ago. My mother had too much money in the bank (a few thousand dollars over the $2000. limit AND she made too much on Social Security & a little pension (she brought in $1800./mo. and the limit is $1400./mo.) to qualify for Medicaid/Medi-Cal. What to do?

I needed to keep working part time. There was no way she could have stayed home by herself. We had to think outside the box.
Fortunately, we lived in Tijuana, Mexico at the time and we were able to place her in a nice facility near there. After a year and a half, the rent went up to $1800./mo. I couldn’t afford to chip in for bathing supplies, diapers, nutritional drinks, medicines, new clothes, etc. We wound up moving her to another Alzheimer’s facility in Tijuana costing $850./mo. They were attentive and did a good job of caring for her and spotting problems and calling the doctor. She lived there for a year and a half until she passed away 2 months ago at age 96.

In between facilities, I tried to take care of her in our home for 3 months with hubby’s help and a night worker. But my back is bad (40 years as a nurse) and I couldn’t do her physical care. Hubs worked from home but she was very confused and needed watching 24/7. He couldn’t get anything done. It just became too much for us. (Great way to ruin a marriage.)

I wish I had another answer for you. Are there family members that can take turns caring for him? How about a senior day center? Anybody you know that needs a job and would work for low salary?

Good luck. It’s tough being in this predicament.

If he can pay for it himself then he can do that. Why is he being denied?

What is the problem with qualifying? Does he have too much income, but not enough to pay for a facility? If so, look into a "Miller Trust" which can be used to divert the 'extra' income. That money can then only be used for his care, and if there is any left when he passes, it goes back to the state.

Has he actually for applied long term care Medicaid? The eligibility requirements for LTC Medicaid are different than Medicaid health insurance.