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04/27/2009

If You Need Medicaid, You Can Get It

by Roy Herndon Smith

If you are a U.S. citizen or long-term resident alien, are 65 or over and need Medicaid to pay for home care or other medical expenses while you are living at home or in an assisted living facility, you can get it, no matter what your income and assets are.  (If you need Medicaid to pay for nursing home care, you can also get it.  See the post, "Medicaid to Pay for Nursing Home Care.") (Medicaid is also available to people under 65.  Consult http://www.health.state.ny.us/health_care/medicaid/index.htm#qualify.)

If you have income above the Medicaid limit, you can still apply for Medicaid and have it pay for all your home care if you join a pooled income trust.  You will be able to use the surplus income to pay for living expenses.


We at Community Geriatric Care Management can, for a fee, help you fill out a Medicaid application and join a pooled income trust. Or you can follow the instructions in the following posts and fill out a Medicaid application and join a pooled income trust yourself:


1. How to Apply for Medicaid Home Care
2. Have Income Above the Medicaid Limit? Join a Pooled Income Trust


If you have assets above the Medicaid limit, you can still get Medicaid.  See the post “Have Assets Above the Medicaid Limit?  You Can Still Get Medicaid.” We can also refer you to other agencies and eldercare attorneys who can help you get Medicaid even if you have significant assets.


Community Geriatric Care Management also offers workshops to congregations and groups about how to fill out Medicaid applications and join a pooled income trust.


If we receive a complete Medicaid application, with all the necessary documentation, and, if necessary, joined a pooled income trust and/or brought your assets down to the asset limit, and if we determine that Medicaid is likely to approve the application, we can arrange for you to receive Medicaid paid-for home care within two weeks (usually less).  Once Medicaid is approved (usually within two months after the submission of the application), you will continue to receive Medicaid paid-for home care from, if you wish, the same home care agency with which you started.  You will not have to change aides once Medicaid is approved.

Posted at 03:00 AM in Home Care and How to Pay for It, Medicaid--If You Need It, You Can Get It |

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Talk with us

  • Comment on a blog post.

    CommunityGeriatricCare@gmail.com

    Phone 917-685-2687 Fax 212-564-7517

    Community Geriatric Care Management
    115 West 30th Street, Suite 500A
    New York, NY 10001

What we do

  • We work with older people, their family members and their communities.

    We help those who are frail continue to live at home.

    We help those who are homebound continue to be active in their communities.

Who we are

  • Roy Herndon Smith, PhD, coordinator of Community Geriatric Care Management, has:

    Worked with family members caring for home-bound older adults for over 7 years

    Practiced, supervised and taught community organizing, psychotherapy, pastoral counseling and meditation for 35 years

    Written The Mutuality of Care and numerous articles about care, counseling, religion and mourning

We help

  • Older people who live in New York City and their families

    Plan for how to maintain the quality of their lives when they become frail

    Secure and supervise the home care and other services that allow them to stay in their homes as long as possible

    Obtain government benefits and entitlements to help pay for home care and other medical needs

    If needed, find quality assisted living and nursing facilities

    Reduce the stress of living with illness, mourning or caring for someone who is homebound

    Strengthen the networks of family members, friends, neighbors and professionals necessary to secure their wellbeing

    Religious communities and other associations

    Identify isolated and frail people

    Value their wisdom and skills

    Increase their participation

    Meet their needs

    Maintain the intergenerational ties that make communities and individuals strong, healthy and compassionate

    Professionals and agencies

    Build community support for frail and homebound people

Free services

  • 1. If we receive a completed Medicaid application that we approve and, if necessary, an application for a pooled income trust, we will set up Medicaid-pending home care with the same agency that will continue to provide home care once Medicaid is approved. Clients will thus not have to pay for home care while waiting for Medicaid to be approved and will not suffer the disruption of having new aides from new home care agencies once Medicaid is approved.
  • 2. We will provide trainings for social workers, family caregivers and others about how to complete Medicaid applications and join pooled income trusts.

Educational programs

  • • It Takes a Community
  • • If You Need Medicaid, You Can Get It
  • • Joining A Pooled Income Trust
  • • Community Organizing with the Frail Elderly and Those Who Care for Them
  • • Using Meditation to Change Stress Into Compassion