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Is anyone knowledgeable about nursing home care and medicaid?

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Posted 10/16/2015 5:24 AM (GMT -5)
My husband and I are going to be making a very important decision soon about whether we should move into a life lease facility which has senior apartments, assisted living, and a nursing home within their large complex.

It's a very nice place but the trouble is: It's expensive and you hand over all of your assets which is understandable. You could never move elsewhere. The nice thing about this life lease facility is: if your spouse ends up in the assisted living building or the nursing home, you get to stay in your apartment at no extra cost.

They don't take just anyone. If you've had for example a mini stroke, they won't take you because that could mean long term care down the road.

It's either the above or purchasing a different home away from the asphalt plant we currently live near. My husband is strongly leaning toward the idea of buying a different home.

Because we are both up in age and we have our limitations, I would like to know if Medicaid would cover our significant other being in a nursing home if we are not capable of taking care of him or her ourselves (as much as I would like to be able to) after our money and the time period of Medicare runs out.

For example: helping him or her out of bed. If I attempted to bend and lift someone like that, I'd not only aggravate my fibro symptoms, I would do harm to my neck and back injuries.

I know there are a lot of different scenarios. But maybe one or more of you have gone through this?

I would love to know what you think.

Thanks!

Post Edited (almost medfree) : 10/16/2015 4:53:47 AM (GMT-6)

Posted 10/16/2015 1:40 PM (GMT -5)
I know more about medicare than medicaid, but I do know that having to make the decision after a crisis, you have less options. Also, if health or other expenses ate up your $, then you also have less options. In these instances , you may have to opt for a facility that is less than desirable. If you make the decision now, and you get into the facility you prefer, most cannot kick you out once you reach that medicaid status. The other plus is these facilities will help you with all the nasty paperwork.

I was helping my parents with some of this, but lately my flare ups have been brutal and it's hard to get out. Doctor appointment next week... I'm asking for stronger pain pills or I'm moving to Colorado and becoming a pothead...
Posted 10/16/2015 2:16 PM (GMT -5)
Almost, there is no way I would do that! I had a friend who convinced her parents to sell their little ranch home and go to a facility that had independent living, assisted living, and a nursing home. They were in the independent living section and hated it and left. In your case, you would be stuck there for life! Look....you thought you 'd love your new home and here you are, less than a year in it, finding there are problems that are making you think about moving. If problems arose at this other place, you would have no choice but to stay there and suffer for the rest of your life.

No way would I give all my assets to any place. I am older than you are and have some limitations....everyone has these problems as they age. But my home keeps me moving and helps with my fibro. Sure, sometimes I have to do things that can cause more pain but yet I still have my major investment that is appreciating. That's money in my pocket.

I took out long term health insurance 18 years ago when my husband passed on. It will cover me fully in nursing homes or assisted living OR I can have private nurses come to my home. That was my insurance policy for peace of mind. If you can't afford that, there are home nursing businesses that aren't too expensive that could help IF it became necessary.

You know, you are letting something that may never happen to you and your husband dictate such a major decision! I never had to help my husband since he died suddenly. This happens with many people. I hope it happens to me too. I want to leave this world while still active and staying in my home will help me do that. If I moved to a smaller place (and those independent living facilities are quite small) I would have nothing to keep me moving. I would be sitting more and most likely bored to tears. But my home affords me the luxury of gardening and just keeping it clean and I can cook to my heart's content. I can live like everyone else with some limitations. I can pace myself and enjoy my life.

Medicare will not cover this. You get, I believe, 100 days in a nursing home a year...and you have to pay 20% of that. Medicaid doesn't kick in until you are down to your last $2,000 dollars. This is what it was when I was handling my mother's illness. Also, the nursing home I had my mother in was really lovely, spotless, no odors, and the nursing staff was exceptional. BUT they only had two Medicaid beds in the place! Nursing homes have to do that because Medicaid doesn't pay much and the facility would go under for lack of money to run it properly.

So here are my suggestions. Since your hubby wants to just buy another home, I'd go with that. If money is tight, go with a small, efficient home in a good neighborhood. Also, check out long term health insurance plans. I think AARP has some. I've seen quite a few in the past few years. I had never heard of them before but when my husband died, my financial guy told me about them. I poo-pooed the idea until I started paying for my mother's nursing home bills. Yikes! I ran out and bought my policy.

Another suggestion would be to buy in the senior communities they have down here. I am guessing that you are on the east coast of Florida but I know on the west coast there are two good communities...Sun City Florida, which is about a half hour south of Tampa and The Villages, which is just south of Ocala, Florida. They both have homes or condos...whichever you would like. My Mom lived in Sun City in a condo. Her place was lovely...livingroom/dining room combo, two bedrooms, two full baths, a large screened lanai, and a laundry room with golf cart storage. I sold her condo...furnished...for $60,000! It was an older condo but I would have lived in it. So there are some good deals at these places. Plus there are soooo many activities to keep you busy...indoor and outdoor pools, learning activities, etc. This would keep both of your busy and active and...younger! You would be enjoying life instead of looking at all the negative things that COULD possibly happen. That's not fun at all.

I do hope you will consider ALL possibilities. Giving up everything you have worked so hard to accumulate doesn't seem like a good choice to me, especially since there are other things out there. You want to enjoy the life you have, Almost, and I know your hubby does too. Don't limit yourself. You could really live to regret such a decision and your life would be totally out of your hands.

Sherrine
Posted 10/16/2015 3:04 PM (GMT -5)
TangoDancer, thanks so much for your reply and your advice. So sorry to hear about your increased flare-ups. I hope you'll feel better soon. Let us know how you're doing.

Sherrine, thanks so much for taking the time to give me a thoughtful, informative, lengthy reply. It's such a big decision, I guess I wanted to make sure we're doing the right thing. One of our church's Bible Study Groups meets at the facility I mentioned above, and one of the members gave me a tour of the place and even her apartment. People appear to love it there. They even have a nurse and a pastor on the premises.

So, Sherrine, if this nice nursing home your mother was in only had 2 medicaid beds, I imagine there are lesser nursing homes that have mostly if not all medicaid beds.

If a person is unable to perform the physical caregiving, will the state take over and place the afflicted spouse in a nursing home on your request using Medicare and eventually turn to Medicaid when you're down to your last $2000? Home nursing care is only a small part of the day.

I don't think my hubbie would be agreeable to purchasing nursing home insurance. It must be very expensive. Though it sounds like it would be a very good idea. The house we already have in mind is in one of those active senior communities and they cost a fair amount of change. I don't really want to live downtown in a less expensive setting because like you mentioned, it would be nice to be active within a senior community.

Thanks again, Sherrine! It's so nice to know we have the support of our friends in this forum.
Posted 10/16/2015 3:27 PM (GMT -5)
Home healthcare could help out in those circumstances...IF they even arose. Again, you are planning your future around something that might not even happen. A nursing home would be over-kill. Here is a link about home healthcare and the variety of choices available.

www.vnsnet.com/homecare-services/faqs

By the way, when my mother was in the nursing home, we had to use their doctor. I think most nursing homes are that way. Unfortunately, these doctors are not the best out there.

I gave the nursing home doctor Mom's declaration that she did not want to be kept alive if she had a terminal condition. She wanted no food or water...she just wanted to die peacefully. I, of course, thought the doctor would follow her request.

She kept having strokes and ended up in the hospital with pneumonia but would recover and go back to the nursing home. The last time, she was in the hospital for over two weeks. I would get there at 9 AM and leave at 5 PM. Every two hours the physical therapists would come in and say they were going to give Mom a breathing treatment. I thought they were giving her more oxygen and "pounding" her back so she could cough up mucus. I would leave the room and go get a cup of tea.

After over two weeks, as I was getting ready to leave, one of the nurses said, "Do you really want to continue doing this?" I asked what she meant. She went on to explain that the "breathing treatment" was to shove an NG tube up my mother's nose and into her lungs to suck out mucus! They were doing this every two hours around the clock!! I had NO idea. I asked if she was terminal and the nurse said most definitely.

I wanted to choke that stupid nursing home doctor. He had Mom suffering like that for weeks. She did try to tell me but her voice was so weak and my hearing loss was so bad. I was calling in strangers into the room to see what she was saying and no one could understand. Now I knew what she was saying....to stop this already!

I got to the hospital at 7 AM the next day, chewed out the idiot, and had all food and water taken away. She died peacefully two days later. I truly believe her regular doctor would have honored her request. So, Almost, check that out too.

By the way, most nursing homes have Bible studies and pastors and priests going in them regularly.

Sherrine
Posted 10/17/2015 4:03 AM (GMT -5)
Sherrine, thanks for the link and for taking the time to share such a sad story with us. That must have been very difficult. Luckily the nurse made that comment and you were able to figure out what your mom was trying to say. We do have to be careful of some doctors.

And, thanks, for all the information. My husband and I have decided to buy the house in the senior community. There is always is one of us does need the extra help, moving into an assisted living facility together.

Now we just have to wait to get our ducks in a row paperwork and bank wise and hopefully the house will still be on the market.

Thanks again!
Posted 10/17/2015 5:45 AM (GMT -5)
I think you made the best decision. Does the senior community have lots of activities too? That would be so good for both of you. Getting out, doing things, and being out with other people will help to put your health on the back burner...at least for a while. The more active you are I think will help your overall health.

I'll pray that everything falls perfectly in place for you.

Sherrine
Posted 10/17/2015 6:37 AM (GMT -5)
Thanks, Sherrine!

Yes, I believe there are a lot of activities. If we get this house we're hoping for, it will be difficult at first socializing a bit more than we are now. I'll need to practice being careful with how much and what to say about my limitations, but I've learned a lot in Healing Well. So it should be good in the long run for the both of us.
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