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My mother is in need of long term care, she is 64 and has RA and some troubling higher level wound care needs. A plethora of hospital visits from June till now has taken my mother from a once vibrant and snazzy lady who could go and do with the help of a cane to someone who can't walk and needs help moving her legs in and out of the bed. The rehabilitation center she was released to did more harm than good because when she was released from the hospital she could use a walker and now she can't and toileting is an issue. She makes too much for low income housing but not enough for theses nicer facilities and I feel overwhelmed and lost. She's not 65 so she can't tap into Medicare/Medicaid and I am an only child so funding a 7k a month room is daunting to say the least. I need any help I can get!

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Yes, she needs to get covered by long term care Medicaid. If she can't perform ADL's (activities of daily living) by herself, which means toileting, dressing, bathing, feeding herself, or getting around by herself, she will medically qualify for a nursing home level of care. The next step is to financially qualify her. Different states have different ways to go about it, but even if she makes too much for regular Medicaid, she still will be able to qualify for LTC Medicaid if she needs to. It may involve setting up a trust, but basically all of her money goes to the nursing facility except for a small allowance each month, and Medicaid picks up the difference. Age is not a factor, ability to perform ADL's is. When my father was in the NH, there were a handful of younger people (younger than 50) living there because they were not able to survive on their own.
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Reply to mstrbill
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Medicare doesn't pay for custodial care in a facility. Medicaid, in most states, is for people who are medically assessed as needing LTC (this is done by a doctor). It pays for her medical needs in a facility or in-home. Then her SS income covers the custodial portion (room and board) in a facility. So, she has to qualify both medically and financially.

There is such a thing as a trust fund that will take the "excess" income so that she qualifies financially: Medical Assistance Income Trust (MAIT) or Qualifying Income Trust (QIT). Then when she passes, the funds go back to the state to pay for the care she received.

You can talk to social services for her county about her needs, and also a Medicaid Planner for her home state since it seems she will need it sooner rather than later.
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Reply to Geaton777
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