8 years ago I had to make the decision to have my mom live with me and my husband because the country where she lived all her life (Venezuela) has become one of the worst hell holes in the world and it's obviously not a place for a woman her age, specially since she's divorced and doesn't have any siblings or family members around. It's only me and my sister (and my sister has made it crystal clear that she doesn't want to share the responsibility of taking care of our mom).
Ever since my mom moved to the US (she was 64 when she moved in with us), she hasn't been able to work (even though she's fully legal), which means she doesn't have any social security income (because she doesn't have any working history in the US), and no savings.
Me and my husband have reached the point where we just can't have her living with us anymore; she can barely move, can barely go up and down the stairs, there's something wrong with her eyesight (she's seeing double and the doctors are still trying to figure out what's causing this), she's very dizzy all the time, has a lot of trouble hearing, her memory is pretty bad, has chronic asthma (has been hospitalized 4 times in the last few months)....and these are only a few of the problems we have to face everyday.
I really need her to move to an assisted living facility but I don't know what to do because MediCal (we live in California) will only cover a portion of the assisted living rent and she's responsible to pay for the rest (aprox $1200 per month), which in most cases will be paid using the social security income, which she doesn't have and I clearly can't pay an extra $1200 per month on top of my existing mortgage.
What options do I have? Someone please guide us.
Thanks.
You’ll have to either come up with an extra $1200 a month or start looking for assisted livings elsewhere. There’s no way to fully fund it on the tax payers dime. The cost of AL varies through out the state. If you really must put her in AL, you might have to move her hours away from you. Otherwise you’ll have to wait until she qualifies for a nursing home. Have you had her evaluated for long term care yet? She could qualify for a nursing home now.
Thank you for all this info, I already looked into an AL facility that was about 3 hours away from where we live, but the cost came down to aprox $1000 per month (which I can't afford on top of my already existing mortgage). I was told by one of the medical social services coordinators that MediCal would cover ALL the costs of AL, but after contacting the NorCal Coordinators agency that works with AL facilities that are part of the Medicaid Waiver program, they told me that was not the case.
I'm really worried because my mom has a way of speaking to the doctors that makes it sound like there's nothing wrong with her and that she's having a great time. She did this when she was hospitalized, she kept telling the nurses and the doctors that she felt like she was in a 5 star hotel and that the meals were amazing.....So I don't know what it will be like when they evaluate her for long term care..
Do you know what's the process of having her evaluated for long term care?. Should I contact her PCP first?
Thanks again!
When it comes to SS, your Mom never would have collected it even if she worked the 8 yrs here. You have to work 10 years (40 qtrs) to collect SS.
Thank you.