My Mom has extreme dementia and it's getting so hard to take care of her. she has retirement and social security. She does not own a home or a car. She does have credit card debt that I am trying to pay off, How can I get her on Medicaid so I can get help? Medicare and TRICARE do not cover anything as far as assisted living.
https://www.agingcare.com/articles/how-to-use-a-miller-trust-for-medicaid-eligibility-207367.htm
Income trusts provide a way for individuals whose income exceeds the Medicaid monthly limit to still qualify for Medicaid services. It may be allowed in your state.
As long as you - yourself - are not a co-owner of the CC, it’s not your debt. It’s moms and she’s judgment proof. Id only be concerned if, again IF, you in any way have told or corresponded with her creditors that you are assuming responsibility on her debt. You did not do this, did you? Otherwise they can pound sand.
also realize that once she goes onto LTC Medicaid, Medicaid will require her to do a copay of basically almost all her mo income to the NH as a required copay. Those on LTC Medicaid end up defaulting on debts…. all debts too like CC, mortgages, car notes, etc. What you r doing by paying her CC bills are just delaying the inevitable.
On her being over the $ amount to qualify financially, I’d recheck the exact maximum amount allowed for monthly income for 2022 for your states LTC Medicaid program. I think a lot of states have increased the max by $50/100 for 2022 due to the big COLA paid in January social security as there’s a ton of folks who would become ineligible due to it and end up being homeless over $18 more a mo. If it’s still too high, look into the Miller Trust that LongShot posted about.
If your state does not allow for Miller, there will be another type of income overage program. Like in Arizona, it’s called Income Only Trust. They all follow the same format….. a bank account - at a bank that participates in the program - is opened for an income source that is considered “guaranteed income”. SS is guaranteed income. FYI often other retirements or pensions are not. So it’s the SS $ that goes into the “Trust”. The payee for the SS then become the Trust and not mom. So voila! Mom now only has that other income left in her name (like her other retirement) and she’s under the income max. The $ in the Trust either gets paid in full to the NH or the overage build up each month in the account and then after mom dies goes to the state as the beneficiary of the Trust.
It’s a fairly common & solveable problem, just what path (Miller, Income Only, whatever) allowed really dependent on your states laws.