How Medicaid can Help with Assisted Living/Nursing Home Care

Healthcare costs are at an all-time high, and they keep rising. As your parents and you approach retirement, or if anyone in your family has a disability, you may wonder how you will cover the cost of nursing care. Assisted living costs, on average, $4,000 per month across the country. State averages range from as low as $2,800 to as high as $9,200, and care for patients with Alzheimer’s, dementia, and other ailments can add on thousands per month. In Palm Beach, nursing homes cost an average of $8,000 to $12,000 a month. Medicaid can help with these costs. Reach out to a knowledgeable and dedicated West Palm Beach Medicaid planning and elder law attorney if you have any questions.

Medicaid Covers Many Assisted Living Expenses

Medicare will not, unfortunately, help with the cost of home health aides, assisted living, or nursing homes, unless you have specifically purchased long-term care insurance. Medicaid, however, can help.

Medicaid will cover care in three ways:

1. Home health aides up to five hours a day. Medicaid has a generous policy in terms of home health aides. They will pay for up to five hours a day of care, which can cost, on average, $22 per hour. You could, for example, have a nurse come by in the morning to get the patient out of bed, get ready for the day, and take their medication, and then leave. They could come back in the middle or end of the day to accomplish additional tasks, and Medicaid would foot the bill. Medicaid will also pay for optional adult daycare, incontinence protection, prescriptions, medical transportation, as well as physical and occupational therapy. If you need additional care, you can pay for more hours on top of what Medicaid covers.
2. Assisted living facilities. At an assisted living facility, Medicaid will pay for the portion of the bill that covers care. The resident will still be responsible for paying room and board.
3. Nursing home care. Medicaid will cover your entire nursing home bill after you reach your monthly income copay. Your monthly copay for nursing home costs will never exceed your monthly income. For example, if you are receiving $1,000 in social security benefits each month, you will likely pay about $1,000 each month, while Medicaid covers the rest. If you are married, your spouse might be able to keep a portion of your income for their own living expenses, and Medicaid will still cover the remainder.
It is vital to start planning for Medicaid eligibility as soon as possible in order to ensure that you and your loved ones are adequately taken care of when unable to continue working.

Planning for Medicaid Eligibility in West Palm Beach

A compassionate and detail-oriented West Palm Beach Medicaid planning attorney can help you and your family plan appropriately to maximize your chances for needs-based eligibility. If you need an experienced and effective Florida Medicaid planning and elder law attorney, contact the West Palm Beach trust and estates attorneys Shalloway & Shalloway at 561-686-6200 today for a consultation.