Nursing Home Expenses -- 300 foot view

[bizlady]

It appears that my father-in-law will need to be moved from subacute care to a nursing home in the near future (a few weeks from now). My mother-in-law still lives in their home. They have very little in assets, a small pension, and social security.

Can anyone give me a 300 foot overview on how expenses are handled when there are no funds?

I think, it goes like they spend down, she keeps half, and can live in the house until she dies or moves and lien is then placed..

Any overview will help. We need to find a place and will meet than with those folks, but getting some answers in the meantime would be helpful.

Thanks

 

[Martha]

Different states have different amounts a spouse can keep when calculating Medicaid spend-down. Where are they located?

 

[bizlady]

They are in Minnesota

 

[travelover]

We went through this about a year ago. DW found a liaison from the local Medicaid office that told us how to apply for Medicaid for FIL. We got him qualified so that once he needed to go to a nursing home full time, he was covered. Scenario is as you described. Since they had essentially no assets but their home, it was simple.

Downside was that every time he was re hospitalized, we had to scramble to find a new nursing home, hoping to find a good one with a vacancy.

 

[Martha]

They are in Minnesota

Sorry, lost track of the thread. Here is the info for Minnesota: Income Limits of Minnesota Health Care Programs

It is pretty tough on the spend down requirements.