Medicare: Nursing Homes and Assisted Living Questions

1. Is there a law for assisted living room size?

   Title VII of the Older Americans Act requires that each state have an ombudsman program that functions solely to "investigate and resolve complaints made by or on behalf of older individuals who are residents of long term care facilities". The link below will help you locate the program in your state...
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2. How do I find more affordable home care?

   What a complicated issue! Having trouble finding affordable in-home care seems to be an issue for you as well as the government. The issue is that pay is commensurate with getting a trained, kind and loving person to come to your home to perform a simple task...
   1 Expert Answer, 10 Community Answers

3. Does Medicare cover podiatry survice if I am in a nursing home?

   Medicare Part B medical insurance can cover podiatry services regardless of where you live. And the covered services can be provided in a podiatrist's office, in an outpatient clinic, or in the nursing home itself if there is a podiatrist who visits the facility.
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4. If we rent out my parent's home, will all the rent money go to the nursing home?

   In your parent's case, renting the house while he or she is in the nursing home may be a good idea, even though much of the rent would go to reimburse Medicaid for its coverage of the nursing home stay. But you have to be careful that the rent does not disqualify your parent from nursing home coverage under Texas Medicaid rules (read on below)...
   1 Expert Answer, 1 Community Answer

5. Where can I find financial assistance for assisted living costs?

   A great place to start the search is BenefitsCheckup.org. This service can help you figure out which local, regional, and national programs may be available to help your mother with her bills.
   1 Expert Answer, 2 Community Answers

6. Can I be removed as responsible party for nursing home agreement?

   If a nursing home participates in either Medicare or Medicaid -- as almost all do -- then the federal Nursing Home Reform Law prohibits it from requiring guaranteed payment from anyone other than the resident -- your parent. This is true even if your parent is not presently covered by either Medicare or Medicaid...
   1 Expert Answer, 1 Community Answer

7. Can Medicare take your home to pay for nursing home care?

   Short-term nursing skilled facility care can be covered by Medicare during treatment or recovery following a hospital stay. Medicare doesn't seek reimbursement for any nursing facility costs, so your home wouldn't be at risk.
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8. Will Medicare assisted living cover facility costs?

   The only non-hospital inpatient care Medicare pays for is a very limited amount of skilled nursing facility care while recovering from an illness or injury following a hospital stay. It doesn't cover any of the cost of residence in an assisted living facility.
   1 Expert Answer, 4 Community Answers

9. Should I sign a payment agreement with my mother's rehab center?

   Under federal law, it is almost certainly illegal for a rehab center to require, as a condition of admitting your mother, that you sign an agreement guaranteeing payment, or requiring you to become the responsible party for her bills...
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10. Will my grandmother lose Medicare benefits if she is checked out of a rehab center without a doctor's approval?

    It sounds like the facility is badly overstating the case -- Medicare benefits will not stop. Your grandmother has every right to leave the facility if she wants to, and your mother has a legal right to check her out of the facility and take her home (assuming she has a properly executed power of attorney from your grandmother)...
    1 Expert Answer, 2 Community Answers

11. What is my mother's liability to Medicare if she enters a nursing home?

    First, it seems that you're confusing Medicare with Medicaid in your question. It's Medicaid (not Medicare) that would cover her nursing home bills and could seek repayment out of the value of her house after she dies. But if the loan was already made and secured by the house's equity before...
    1 Expert Answer, 1 Community Answer

12. Will a second stay in a rehabilitation facility also be covered by Medicare?

    How long Medicare Part A covers your mother's inpatient care in a rehabilitation or skilled nursing facility, and how much it pays, depends on what's called a "benefit period." A benefit period is a single, continuous time-frame that begins the first day your mother stayed overnight in the hospital...
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13. What housing options are available?

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14. Is there a facility for COPD hospice care?

    Services may be made available in your home to assist your wife in her advanced stages of COPD. Palliative care or hospice care may be the next step to consider in providing COPD caregiving. If you want to know more about these services especially for persons with advanced COPD, there are articles on the web, most of them very clinical...
    1 Expert Answer, 2 Community Answers

15. Can a lien be placed on property in Florida for nursing home costs?

    First, let's get Medicare out of the way. Medicare coverage for a nursing facility stay is very limited, applying only to medical rehabilitation in a skilled nursing facility, and does not include long term residence in a nursing home. If your father were to receive any Medicare coverage for a short...
    1 Expert Answer, 6 Community Answers

16. Would Medicare or Medicaid pay for replacement hearing aids?

    Medicare does not cover the cost of hearing aids. And since Medicare doesn't cover them, neither will your mother's Medicare supplemental insurance policy.
    1 Expert Answer, 1 Community Answer

17. Where do we put her when Medicare runs out and Medicaid isn't yet available?

    Whether you are applying for Medicaid (called Medi-Cal in California) coverage of your wife's medical care, or Medicaid coverage for home care, or Medicaid coverage of her stay in a nursing home, that coverage can be retroactive not only to the date she applied but even up to three months prior to filing the application...
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18. Will Medicaid or Medicare help pay for my mother's long-term care?

    Medicare and Medicaid serve two very different purposes: Medicare is similar to regular health insurance, providing coverage to people over the age of 65. Medicaid, on the other hand, is basic health insurance for people older than 65 who have limited income and assets.
    1 Expert Answer, 4 Community Answers

19. Does Medicare pay for assisted living care?

    No, Medicare doesn't pay at all for assisted living. Medicare coverage for long-term care of any sort is very limited, covering only short-term stays in a skilled nursing or rehabilitation facility while someone recovers from an illness, injury, or surgery...
    1 Expert Answer, 3 Community Answers

20. What do I need to apply for Medicaid?

    To apply for Medicaid for your mother, you have to provide records of your mother's income and assets (if the final guardian report is not very recent, you might have to update it for Medicaid). Certain portions of your mother's income isn't counted in determining her Medicaid eligibility, nor would her home be counted as an asset if she still lives in it...
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