My mother is 78 and has dementia. It just showed up last month.
She can not go back to living on her own.
She can not live with my brother, as he is taking care of his mother-in-law, who also has dementia.
I can not help as I live in a hotel room (in San Francisco) that will fit an SUV and not much else.
All my mother has is Social Security (just under $900 a month), Medicare & Medi-cal. She also has a section 8 voucher.
Right now she is in a nursing home in Pasadena, but my brother tells me that Medi-cal runs out at the end of May and she has to be moved again.
Now what? I was going to post this in GQ looking for factual answers, but I figure it would get moved here anyways.
The Medi-Cal is the determining factor, which makes me wonder what they mean by saying it will run out.
Medicare and Social Security do not pay for long term care. However Medicare does pay for short term nursing care if discharged from the hospital to the care facility. So Medicare could run out.
Medi-Cal is California’s Medicaid program. It sound like your mother has no significant assets so she should qualify for long term care under Medi-Cal. Medicaid does pay for long term care, though patients generally must spend down most of their assets before qualifying.
Of course not all care facilities accept Medi-Cal and beds are likely to be limited at those which do. Hopefully someone local to the area can point the way.
My brother wants to find an assisted living facility, but after talking to him tonight, I’m not sure that will work. Even if Medi-Cal would pay for that.
Most cities/counties have an “Office on Aging” which can supply information for people in these circumstances. I have my county’s booklet in hand, and it is quite thick with pages of info.