Does anyone provide assistance for filling out Medicaid papers for the elderly?

Good Evening,

You can contact a hospital social worker and they will walk you through it. Depending upon if her husband was a veteran, there may also be some help.

Some of the Assisted Livings have Caregiver Support groups a lawyer may give a talk (usually and Elder Attorney). Perhaps they could be of some assistance.

Start with your State Office of the Aging. Here in NYS, each county has a branch office. Also touch base with your County Dept of Social Services. The initial process to sign my Mom up for Medicaid was exhausting, but with the guidance of the two offices, I had no problem providing the needed documentation to complete the process, including the setup of a pooled trust for the spend down. My contacts later assisted as I signed Mom up for our state's Medicaid Managed Long Term Care Program, which paid for items like Mom's pull-ups, the pads I used on her bed and chairs, and her medical alert pendent. Medicaid allowed Mom to stay in her home, and helped me take care of her.

If your looking to place your mom and she has no funds , start searching for an AL that accepts Medicaid. We were able to find a place for my in laws and they had no ability to pay from the get go.
For my mom and my in laws I have used a placement agency. If you can find an independent in your area, I would choose them. They Know the area, the cost, Medicaid eligibility, they will meet you And arrange tours with you, they get paid by the placement AL. Not by you. Google it, May take some digging. I used a franchise here , Carepatrol, they have franchise in different cities as well..

I wish you peace with this process , it is overwhelming for sure.

I’m in the process now.. I am working with my county office ADRC , aged and disabilities office … when I contacted them , first , they ascertained that my mom qualified. I had to supply them with my durable POA, her medication list , care plan from facility, income, etc. Now , I am working with the person who helps me file. I have been able to get info on what I need to do to spend down to that $2000 threshold. Tedious for sure. I meet with her first week in May.

You can go onto your county's website for social services (Dept of Health and Human Services) to find the app form. You can download it and look at the info. If your mom doesn't have a lot of assets and there's nothing complicated, the app can easily be filled out by you or whomever has access to her banking/financial info and knows what medical bills she has. In my state literally anyone can fill out the app for another as long as they are named on the form and the applicant (your mom) signs it. Medicaid differs by state, so you can see if there's this provision on the application. I printed out 2 copies of the app: one was my MIL's draft copy and when I felt is was all correct and complete I transferred the info to the final copy I would submit for her.

I agree to not believe anyone who just told you she wouldn't qualify...how on earth would they know? You don't know until you submit the app. FYI some state's Medicaid app have a longer financial "look back" period than others: from 2.5 years to 5 years. If you've been doing anything like comingling funds with hers in a joint account or she has transferred or gifted you money or assets (or from you to her), this can be a problem and you should consult with a Medicaid Planner.

The business manager of my mom’s NH was very knowledgeable on all things Medicaid and walked our family through the entire process at no charge. Don’t assume anything you’ve heard is true until you’ve been through the application process. Your local Area Agency on Aging may also be a help

Does someone have POA? If not and Mom is competent I would start there. Call Social Services and see if you can set up an appt to see if a caseworker can help you with the application. This is what I did.

In my State the income cap is just over $2300 and the asset cap is not more than 2k. Each State is different. If she has a home and car they are exempt assets. If Mom is over the income levels there are trust that maybe able to be set up.