Contact your Area Agency on Aging--always a good place to start.

Post makes no sense whatsoever.
She (or he?) receives SS but no Medicare at 80?
"He is currently on Medicaid and in a home with advanced Alzheimers." ... " ... "do you think she would qualify for Medicaid?"

Nursing home would have worked all this out before he or she were even admitted.

angelaid - please re-read the original post. She is talking about a female friend, who is married. Salgal is inquiring about her female friend. Her friends husband is already on Medicaid & in a home.

Salgal - sorry I cannot give you any Medicaid advise, but I am sure someone here will do so shortly! This group of people are the best, as you know!

Pick up the phone and call their office. The Medicare and Medicaid people were just more than generous with their time and patience in helping us with our Medicare questions and Medicaid for Johns mother for her Alzheimers nursing care...

I would think that the Home where the husband is would have all the info you need. After all, the husband had to go through the paperwork to get there.
Sue

Still doesn't make sense. If she is on SS, why isn't she on Medicare? She wouldn't qualify for Medicaid unless she was on, or was denied, Medicare benefits.

Sad to say, sometimes our friends choose not to ask for help or tell us much until it gets very bad. If the husband is in a home, they might help her, but the best thing you can do is find sources and guide her to them I assume they have no local relatives that are able to help. Pride does get in the way of help. Council on aging, social services at a hospital/home, senior centers, doctors etc are all avaiable. She might need help with transportation but other than that ????
Good luck

I do not know why she is not on Medicare. I think she simply never really needed anything and did not fill out any paperwork.
I am new to all the senior assistance stuff and am just trying to help.
She has had 2 small strokes and desparately needs help. I have been taking her some meals and she asked me to look over her checkbook for her, that's how I found out about this situation.
I did not know until last week that she has no insurance and was getting food stamps.
Her husband is fully covered through medicaid at the nursing home. (he has been there about 5 years now)
They have a son, but honestly he is not much help at all.

I guess one of my real questions was at this advanced stage of financial distress, can she skip over Medicare and qualify immediately for Medicaid?

I will call the office of aging to see if we can get an appointment. I do not really want to be her power of attorney or anything, but I will gladly take her to appointments and help care for her.

As you can imagine, she is a very proud and private person. I just want to see her live her life with dignity.

Ang, she might have other health insurance.... like, say from retired teachers... instead of Medicare? She doesn't HAVE to have Medicare in order to qualify for Medicaid. Maybe the lady is mixed up & really does have Medicare? I'm sure Salgal doesn't have all the details.

Salgal, if her husband qualifies for Medicaid, then that's a good indication that she too would qualify. She might have a "spend down" before the Medicaid kicks in, but it could still help her pay for meds, & dr visits, etc.

In Ohio it is the "Dept of Job & Family Services" that handles Medicaid. It might be called something different in other states? The Area Agency on Aging is, as suggested above, a good place to start. Or call a senior center to find out what Agency handles it.

You are a gem to try to help her out, Salgal. Maybe she's got a bit of dementia also, or just feeling overwhelmed?

About 8 months ago I tried to sign a friend up for Medicaid. He was in complete renal failure and on dialysis. I jumped through every hoop they set before me, copies of financial papers, taxes, utility bills, bank statements, list of assets, market value of assets, etc., etc., only to be told he couldn't even apply for Medicaid until he was either on, or had been denied, Medicare.

That's because renal failure is a special case with Medicare.... End Stage Renal Disease... ESRD, Medicare. You don't go thru the same disability hoops, 2 year waiting period, etc when you are on dialysis. TOTALLY different situation. So did your friend get Medicare ESRD?

Everyone age 65 or older "qualifies" for Medicare. But Medicare is only for doctor and hospital bills. It won't pay for dental or eyeglasses or most prescripotions. People get confused when they hear "Medicare C and D' , which are not really government programs, they are realyy private health insurance and can be quite costly. . Also Medicare won't help a bit with housing or food or other normal expenses. Medicaid is basically Federal Welfare. You have to meet very strict financial guidelines. For example, how did your friend get down to $8? Did she have a bank account or home and transfer it to someone else?

At her age even if she has other insurance she should still have Medicare.When I reached 65 Medicare was automatic.I just had to decide if I also wanted part A,B,and/or C and let them know by a certain date.Even if she didn't fill out anything she would still have Medicare part A.If she has other insurance too,Medicare would be her secondary.I don't understand how she could "not" have Medicare. I think your friend is just confused about the Medicare.Like beeohio said,if her husband qualifies for Medicaid she likely will too.
If she has been in the hospital or seen doctors,someone has been paying her bills,right? If her bills were paid in full she probably has another medical insurance that pays then Medicare picks up the rest.
I don't understand how she gets food stamps if she owns a home??? Unless her SS benefits are very,very low.

Thanks for all your comments. I really do need to take her to a counselor.
I am so confused !!

As margaretoh said, contact your local Area Agency on Aging. They have people who are trained to help seniors, and they know all the programs for which she might qualify. For example, she may qualify for reduced property taxes, food stamps, transportation services, etc. Our local Area Agency on Aging also sends staff members out to do home cleaning, meal prep, home repairs, etc. in cases of need. For many years, my DH donated firewood from our property to our local agency, and they distributed it to poor seniors who needed it to heat their homes. Well worth the phone call!

Unless it has changed, since we had to go through all of this with our son after his accident, she can have $2000 in assets. The home is not counted,nor is the car included, BUT they can and usually do, put an attachment to them. I have to do an accounting of all of Brians finances, and they reiterate the $2000 maximum. You can contact the AAA but you might as well call your Health and Welfare too, as that is who manages Medicaid. If she was ill and needed hospitalization and after care, they would do all of the leg work for her. It is such a shame people don't know what is available to them and how to go about getting it. Another thought. She will need to show them her bank statements and tax records. If she has transfered anything to anyone, including family they will want to know why and it will be verified. It will speed things along if you have all of this ready. She may be of an age, where she is reluctent to share any of this information with anyone, but you need her to understand without it she will not get any help. Good of you to help her.

i remember sis had to get rid of everything (ie savings, ect) to get my bil into a medicaid nursing home when she couldn't care for him anymore at home...she was allowed to have her home, a car and just enough to pay taxes...

in my mother's case, she was recieving medicare, but thanks be had a supplemental health policy, so when she went on hospice, was able to stay in the nursing facility...

i know many people put savings and other assets into trusts so they can't be touched...

but yes, you really should get help...it seems everyone is different...

Wishing you well. You're so confused because the system is so difficult to learn. When my parents went into a home, they (I) kept getting dunning letters from their doctor that hadn't been paid. I kept trying to pay but they needed the EOB (estimation of benefits) statements. "What?! I don't know anything about that. Just tell me what they owe." No can do. Need the statements. Round and round.

And then there's the SS dept. Good of you to help. If a functional person has trouble understanding it all, imagine how overwhelming it must be for people needing help.

Also, just about everyone on SS has $95. deducted from every check for Medicare (Part B ? )so most likely she's covered.

Definitely contact the state or county Office for the Aging. a good counselor can answer all your questions and get your friend everything she is eligible for.

well, I spoke to her and her son and gave them a phone number for a local senior insurance counseling center. It is free and they will help process paperwork for them.
She said she would call today for an appointment and her son told her (in front of me) he would take her.
I think I will wait till Friday to see if they made any progress.

That's good that her son is involved. He needs to be "in the know" as to what's happening, what her needs are, & how they can be met.

"You done good", Salgal!