Once a person uses all their money in ALF and has to go to a Nursing Home. Is it true that the NH will take monthly retirement and all other assets. Where does medicaid fit in the picture. Are NH so willing to take these Alzeimers patients and where will be in 5 years when the population of Alzeimers patients keeps growing? How do you prepare if a NH won't take them b/c they make too much money per month to qualify for Medicare or vice versa? I don't understand the long-term plan of things. Help?
So, yes, when elderly or impaired people qualify for Medicaid they are expected to use what funds they do have to pay as much as they can. Then taxpayers pick up the rest. All but a small personal allowance (which varies by state) will be taken to contribute to the NH costs. Assets (except usually a home) are expected to be used toward the person's care, too, often before Medicaid will kick in. This means that very few us are going to be able to pass a financial estate to our heirs. We need to use it on our own care first.
Because Medicaid sets its own payment amounts, not all NHs accept it. And some facilities will accept a limited number of Medicaid cases, based on what they have worked out for their overall budgets. Often these spots are available for people who have been private pay and then run out of funds. If the ALF has a memory unit, find out if they accept Medicaid, especially for people who have been private pay there.
The financial aspects of dementia are just one more tragic blow for the patient and the families.