General Question

SadieMartinPaul's avatar

Have you ever applied for Medicaid, either for yourself or another person? If yes, in which state did you apply, and how long was the approval process?

Asked by SadieMartinPaul (9027points) July 15th, 2014

My mother’s in the final stages of Alzheimer’s disease, and I recently moved her to a $12K-per-month skilled nursing facility (nursing home).

All of Mom’s resources have been exhausted – actually, until the recent move, my brother and I spent huge amounts of our own money caring for her – and her sole income is a small Social Security benefit. There’s no question that she qualifies for Medicaid.

It’s been 8 weeks since I submitted her application. Twice, I’ve had to provide financial records and supporting documents; both times, I delivered the information promptly.

I know that caseworkers are overworked and backlogged, but 8 weeks (with no decision) seems very long. I also know that coverage, after its been approved, is retroactive to the application date. In the meantime, however, the facility’s very uneasy about $30K of cumulative, unpaid fees, and I’m in a state of limbo.

If you have an experience to share, I’ll be grateful.

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4 Answers

Jonesn4burgers's avatar

However long It takes to go through, it takes care of anything that medicaid covers for up to 90 days before you applied.
The important thing is to get the application process started as soon as you know it is needed.
Good luck dear.
I’m sorry to hear about your mother. So hard.

JLeslie's avatar

Yes, in NY. I don’t remember exactly how long all of it took; my sister handled most of it. Actually, I should mention it was disability Medicaid, which I assume your mom could qualify for. I think it took two or three months to get it all done.

pleiades's avatar

Yes in California. It took a couple months just because I had to actually go to the physical hub and fill out stuff.

SadieMartinPaul's avatar

@JLeslie “I should mention it was disability Medicaid, which I assume your mom could qualify for.”

J, thank you SO much for reminding me about that. My mother’s over age 65, and she applied for fully-disability, in-patient Medicaid. I do recall a caseworker telling me, way back 8 weeks ago, that those circumstances have a more involved process and take longer to approve.

I’ve had so much on my mind, I’d forgotten! Thanks again.

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