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Sibby58 Asked July 2022

Yikes! DENIED! My mother in AL now requires skilled nursing. She has utill the 20th of this month to find a place. Any suggestions?

She is 99 years old, legally blind, has 2 hearing aids (which she needs help with) and in a wheelchair, now requiring a 2-person assist for transfers. She has about 100 thousand dollars left. We have applied to several nursing homes, but just got denied by one corporation because of her gifting! We are afraid no place will take her. She has been giving $ for birthdays and Christmas for decades (to her 5 children, 2 stepchildren and 7 grandchildren). I was under the impression it was ok for her to continue regular gifting. Am I wrong? The amounts ranged from $50, $100, $200, (wedding gift was $500.)


I was advised to get a lawyer. I’m hoping someone here can reassure me about what the future holds. If we can’t find a place that will take her…then what? She lived with us for years, but we have stairs, an upstairs shower, and I can’t imagine her coming back here…I don’t think I could even get her on a commode anymore.


I have a call in to the Center for Elderlaw & Justice for help, but it’s late afternoon on a Friday, so I’ll be waiting all weekend with no answers.

BarbBrooklyn Jul 2022
Great news!!

Sibby58 Jul 2022
UPDATE!!!!
My mom has been offered a bed in a SNF operated by the same company as the Assisted Living where she currently lives. And she’s being evaluated this afternoon ( for an opening in memory care) for another. This company called to ask me specifically about the gifts. When I said they were individual checks to 14 different people for birthdays, Christmas, weddings, and each check was between $50 and $500. They said it would not be a problem. Also, another SNF asked the question differently…”have you transferred any asset value over $1000 in the past 5 years”. The answer to that is no. We have not applied to Medicaid yet since she can still pay for a few months…a bridge I’ll cross then!

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JoAnn29 Jul 2022
I can't see those small amounts making a difference. If before 5 yrs (whatever u state look back is) they won't count. For that small amount, you could pay the penalty.

Do not go by what an employee at a NH tells you in ref to Medicaid. We have heard some pretty wrong info here. Good ur seeing a lawyer.

PreciousUnique Jul 2022
Try a personal care home also called a board and care home. Why is Skill care a need?
JoAnn29 Jul 2022
Primarily because she is a 2 person assist.
mstrbill Jul 2022
You don't take her home, you call state elder protection services if necessary and report a vulnerable adult. If she has 100k, you would be able to self pay at a SNF anyway, for at least 6 months. At any rate, do not under any circumstances agree to take her home, and don't be made to believe you have to, you don't. What you stated as far as gifting absolutely makes no sense anyway, for those meager amounts as far as being denied LTC Medicaid, as Medicaid wouldn't penalize for birthday and Christmas presents. A state social worker will be able to help, they can find placement for her. Call elder protective services, tell them you are unable to take her in, and they need to help find placement for her.

AlvaDeer Jul 2022
She has 100,000? I cannot imagine a nursing home denying her being admitted, because she has funds to pay. As Peggy Sue says, she will enter as private pay.
She is not seeking medicaid is she?
She is merely seeking care for cash?
What am I missing here?
And no, gifting is never OK in terms of applying for medicaid. The lookback is 2 1/2 years in California and I believe 5 in many other places.
At 99 she may have enough funds for her care, but only time can answer that. The gifting should never have happened because it has robbed her of funds she required for her own care.
I am glad you are seeing an attorney; that person will be able to clarify your questions and answers them, and will be able to give you options for your own state.
I sure wish you luck and hope you'll update us.
Sibby58 Jul 2022
Only seeking to private pay, yes. We have not applied for Medicaid. I didn’t think we needed to yet. Look back here in NY is 5 years. The gifting $ was just what she’d been doing for decades since she’s unable to shop. Somehow it doesn’t seem right that she can’t even give a grandchild who gets married any $, when she did so for his siblings a few years earlier. Oh well, time will tell.
Isthisrealyreal Jul 2022
Have you tried www.nelf.org to find a certified elder law attorney in your area?

Only someone versed in your states Medicaid rules will be able to tell you if the gifting is a problem.

Thankfully, she has some money to private pay for a while.

Have you checked into a board and care home? They tend to be way cheaper then a nursing home and many take people in your moms condition.

PeggySue2020 Jul 2022
If she has 100000 left, she will go in as private pay.
Sibby58 Jul 2022
Only if they accept her…was denied from one company.

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