What are ways to pay for a nursing home if someone is not eligible for Medicade?

Question

Medicade only pays for the first month, right? I know that a person's personal resources pay for the home. What about Long term care insurance.

Answer 1

Medicare pays for, at most and with the right circumstances, 100 days.

Medicaid will pay for all but you have to qualify with low income and low assets. To qualify you will first have to use your assets for care, including cash, stocks, bonds, investments, retirement plans, cash value life insurance, and possibly your home. If a spouse or disabled dependent is living in the home you can keep it but Medicaid may put a lien on the home. If you are married half of all assets are also included, a prenup or titled separately it doesn't matter. The care will usually be received in a Medicaid approved home. In many cases these homes are not among the best in the area since Medicaid looks for the cheapest available.

Long term care insurance can be used to pay for stays in a nursing home, assisted living center, or for care in your own home. Long term care insurance can be confusing; it would be better if you sit down and talk with someone to get more information.

Answer 2

Contact your local Area Agency on Aging for information on how to pay for nursing home care - go to www.eldercare.gov to find the AAA that serves the county where you live.

Medicare pays only for what they define as "skilled" care (rehabilitation, physical therapy, wound care, and similar).  Medicaid - for those who qualify by low income - pays for extended nursing home care.

In both cases, the person must be in a home that is certified to receive payment through these programs.  You can locate these homes at www.medicare.gov - go to the "search tools" and choose "compare nursing homes" to find such homes in your area.

Also, you can contact your local ombudsman program - find them at www.ltcombudsman.org

Also, there may be a free legal hotline in your state, where you could call for more detailed advice to help you with this question.  Your ombudsman program or AAA will be able to tell you if this is available in your state.

I hope this is helpful.

Answer 3

Long term care doesn't pay the FULL amount, and it only pays for a limited number of years.  

Once you're in the nursing home, though, it's too late to apply for the coverage.