My husband is in a nursing home and his insurance has run out. What can we do now?

Ann - one thing to keep in mind in all this is that you - as you are NOT going into a NH - are considered by Medicaid to be the "community spouse". The whole rules for CS is quite, quite different than for an individual applying for Medicaid. Medicaid requires that the NH resident/applicant be "at - need" both medically and financially to be eligible for Medicaid. For medically, it means needing skilled nursing care & for financially basically being impoverished. BUT THE CS DOES NOT TO BE "AT-NEED". You do NOT and should NOT yourself become impoverished, only hubs has to be "at - need".

The vast majority of NH applications are coming from those who are a widow or widower and their kids are dealing with the Medicaid application. It is a daunting task but imho it's totally do-able for the kids to do it for their solo parent if they have been involved in their parents life. A total butt-rash of documentation, but most of us can do it for our mom or our dad.

BUT For those - like you - that find themselves in a CS situation, it can be doubly overwhelming in that you are primarily dealing with and focused on your hubby's day to day situation and that in & of itself is overwhelming and then atop this you have to get the documentation needed for Medicaid and still find time to take care of yourself (and you may yourself have health issues or are as old or older than the now in the NH spouse). Then add into this mix is that since most NH Medicaid applications are for individuals, the NH have more experience with that and often give conflicting or incorrect advice as to you (as the CS) having to spend-down $ or become low-income for hubs to get Medicaid. And most articles or information on NH Medicaid is geared for individual applications.

Personally I would get an NAELA level elder law atty to shepherd your hubs application through the system. There's a lot of things that for a CS that you just flat don't have to deal with for an individual's application. The main one being CSRA / MMNA = Community Spouse Resource Allowance / Minimum Monthly Needs Allowance. I think of these as kinda like alimony for the non-NH spouse. Remember you - yourself - do not and should not impoverish yourself in order for hubs to get eligible for Medicaid. If you need some of hubs monthly income to continue your standard of living, then you should get CSRA. Each state's Medicaid program is administered uniquely under a federal guideline, so each state can set the CSRA to be a different amount. Like for TX, it's right under $ 2,900 a mo. MS probably has it pegged as less as in theory MS has a lower cost of living
(yeah and forget that if you are on the coast and have windstorm to pay, LOL!). But I digress, so if you were a CS in TX and hubs got $ 3,200 a mo in monthly income (which has to be his co-pay to the NH under Medicaid rules), but you could show (or rather your elder law atty shows) that you need the max CSRA each month, then hubs only would have a $ 300 co-pay ($ 3000 - 2,900 = 300). Then for spouses there usually is life insurance issues….most of us have our spouse as our beneficiary for our insurance polices, we did the policy back when both of us were working and we had kids and have just left the policy as initially done….now this is great when we were young but for older spouses when 1 is in a NH and the other a CS,it's a problem. Why….well if you should predecease hubs, he would get all your life insurance and Medicaid would stop as he now has too much $$ and then just who would deal with all this for him?, he can't as he has dementia or other infirmities,…..you need to change the beneficiary and again a good NAELA level elder law guy is going to know just how to approach all this for how Medicaid works in MS. There are 2 CELA level ones in MS and about a dz NAELA members in MS. You don't need to have one in Meridien as Medicaid is state law/regulation interdependent so one over in Jackson/Ridgeland/Flowood could work just a well.

Good luck, remember to take time for yourself & let us know how things progress!

Ann, take a deep breath. Has the social worker at the Nursing Home talked to you about discharge yet? That's where you need to start. You want to find out if they will keep your husband in the NH as a "Medicaid Pending" patient. If not, they need to help you find him a bed in a NH that WILL accept him as a Medicaid Pending patient.

But as other posters say, find yourself a QUALIFIED Eldercare attorney who can hold your hand through this process.

At the top of this page click Money &Legal. You will then see "find an Elder Lawyer"... Put in zip code..

Definitely find an Attorney who specializes in Elder Law..

Do this A.S.A.P

The social worker at the facility he is in can help you. Sounds like medicaid is in order, though a spouse is responsible for paying expenses. But, the spouse is entitled to the home, a car, and a specific anount of savings. Medicaid does not want to impoverish the well spouse. Also see an elder law attorney for assistance with this. Ask specifically about Medicaid Planning.