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Medicaid Eligibility

Today's Q&A on ElderCareMatters.com is about Medicaid-Funded Home Care

Question:  I am caring for my mother in my home in California.  It is a full time job.  Will the state provide any kind of assistance to pay for this elder care?

Answer:  The state of California offers a program called In-Home Supportive Services (IHSS), which is paid for by Medicaid funds (MediCal, in California).  The program, administered by each county, does provide a certain number of home care hours, based upon an assessment by a county social worker.   

The care may be provided by a family member, who is paid by IHSS, if the recipient qualifies for MediCal and the caregiver is acceptable to IHSS.   

There is a Website with links to each of the counties’ offices: http://www.cdss.ca.gov/agedblinddisabled/pg1785.htm 

If your mother does not qualify for MediCal, you can talk to a reputable employer-based home care agency about the possibility of working for that company.  The care will not be free to your mother, of course, and you would have to pass the agency’s background screening, but you would be legally employed.

Bert Cave, President
Support For Home
Sacramento, California
916-482-8484
Member of the national ElderCare Matters Alliance, California chapter

Question of the Day on ElderCareMatters.com: "I am an Elder Care Professional with 15 years experience in helping families with their elder care matters. Should I be listed on ElderCareMatters.com?"

Answer:  If you are a professional who helps families plan for or deal with ANY of their elder care matters, then you owe it to yourself to be listed on America's #1 online source for "Elder Care Experts"….

ElderCareMatters.com

ElderCareMatters.com is where you will find more than 2,000 competent, caring elder care experts located across America, including:

  • Elder Law Attorneys
  • Estate Planning Advisors
  • Financial Planners
  • Investment Advisors
  • Geriatric Care Managers
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  • Aging in Place Professionals
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  • And other elder care experts with long and successful careers working with seniors and their families

This is also where you will find some of America's best:

  • Assisted Living Communities
  • Alzheimer's / Memory Care Communities
  • Continuing Care Retirement Communities
  • Home Care Agencies

Together, we provide families across America with:

  • Unparalleled professional expertise
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  • Competent, caring assistance with a wide range of elder care services

So if you are a competent, caring elder care professional who helps families with ANY of their elder care matters, then request today an Application for Membership in the national ElderCare Matters Alliance and get listed on ElderCareMatters.com - America's #1 source for "Elder Care Experts" plus information and answers about a wide range of elder care matters.

Phillip G. Sanders, MBA, MSHA, CPA
Founder & CEO
ElderCare Matters, LLC
ElderCareMatters.com

 

 

 

Question of the Day on ElderCareMatters.com: "My parents are both in their 80s and living in Illinois. We are considering moving them into an assisted living arrangement that requires a deposit, which would be returned (on a pro-rated basis) should they move or die. Does this deposit qualify for the homestead exemption under Medicaid eligibility?”

Answer:  Whether or not your parents’ deposit qualifies as an exempt asset under Medicaid depends on whether the contract is a lease agreement or a contract to purchase a unit.  At many assisted living residences the contract is a lease agreement, not ownership, and will not qualify.  In Massachusetts, home ownership is required to qualify for the exemption for your home.  The home ownership exemption, however, is not valid if he is not able to return home.  As a result, many clients who own homes will protect them and their life-savings with an asset protection trust.  That way the deposit at an assisted living residence can be funded with home sale proceeds or other savings and continue to be protected in the trust even if they get sick in a nursing home and are no longer able to satisfy the requirement of “intending to return home.”  As a result of the asset protection trust there is more flexibility and greater protection for life savings, without the otherwise required ability to return home.

To find  competent, caring elder care professionals across America who are located near You and can help you with your elder care matters, go to: www.ElderCareMatters.com - A FREE online resource to find elder care experts plus elder care information & answers to your elder care questions.

Dennis B. Sullivan, Esq., LLM, CPA
Estate Planning & Asset Protection Law Center of Dennis Sullivan & Assoc.
Wellesley, Massachusetts  02482
781-237-2815
Member of the national ElderCare Matters Alliance, Massachusetts chapter