Webinar: Medicaid Home Care vs. Nursing Home Medicaid (Video)
Finding and affording care for an elderly loved one is often quite difficult for families. Medicaid programs are available to help; however, the enrollment processes are extremely involved.
To educate the public about Medicaid programs for home care and nursing homes, Melissa Negrin-Wiener and Ken Kern, senior partners at Cona Elder Law, shared their expertise during a recent webinar titled “Medicaid Home Care vs. Nursing Home Medicaid.”
The webinar focused on the differences between Community/Home Care Medicaid and Nursing Home Medicaid. Attendees had their pressing questions answered, learned how to qualify for each program, and which care might work best for them and their loved ones.
When asked at what point a person should prepare documents to apply for these programs, Negrin-Wiener replied: “The sooner the better.”
“We always say you’re never too young, you’re never too old; you’re never too rich, you’re never too poor, to plan,” she said. “There’s always a plan, whether it’s for long-term care purpose or tax purposes or whatever the case might be.
“The ideal situation would be that if and when the time comes that somebody needs the care, we’re already eligible, we already have our heads wrapped around what we have to do next as opposed to being in crisis,” she added. “When people are in crisis, they’re emotional, and it’s a whole different ball game.”
The two professionals, who each have 20 years experience in elder law, shared a wealth of information about the detailed processes to enroll in both programs. This included income eligibility, asset protection, look-back periods, and more.
Kern noted that applying for nursing home Medicaid is “no less complex” than applying for home care Medicaid.
“When we’re filing and processing a nursing home application, we’re talking about five years of statements for all accounts that were opened during that five year lookback and everything has to be documented,” Kern said. “If every stitch of documentation is not provided, the local agency will deny the application, which will be certainly a hardship for anyone based upon the amount of money that a nursing home costs each month.”
Families can schedule a consultation with an elder attorney for assistance with Medicaid programs. They advise families to bring any and all financial information to make the process as smooth as possible.
This webinar was hosted by Schneps Media, the parent company of the Long Island Press. For more webinars, visit SchnepsMedia.com/webinars.
