What is Floridas Medicaid Waiver program
Tom Olsen: Robert, what have you been working on this week?
Robert Hidock: Today was a busy week of people getting called off Medicaid's Long-Term Care Waiver. We've been doing a lot of personal services contracts, meaning that their loved one was on a waitlist for Medicaid for their home program. They were called off that list so it's time to get Medicaid compliant. Clients are over assets so we're at the last minute. We're protecting all of their assets via their personal services contract so they can qualify with Medicaid and be under Medicaid's asset limit.
Tom: Robert, well, we have a free booklet, and the title of that booklet kind of says it all. The title is How to Get Free In-home Care for Seniors. What we're saying is that a lot of people out there, hey, they're not ready to go into a nursing home. They're not quite there. Plus, maybe they have their kids living nearby, and the kids are pitching in and helping mom and/or dad at home, but they need a little bit of help at home. Medicaid has a plan that you're not going into a nursing home, but that they're going to send in-home care for up to 30 hours a week right to your home to assist you.
Robert: Yes. Actually, though, I consider it the last part of our pre-planning phase because it takes a little bit of time to get it. It's called Medicaid's Long-Term Care Waiver. You have to still qualify for Medicaid, but the good news is you don't have to apply just to get on the list. They do a rating system. You get rated a five, it's the highest, and you need to get that five. We can help them obtain that goal. Once they get called off the list they have to be Medicaid compliant.
Why they call it a waiver, they're waiving the skilled nursing facility, and then they're agreeing to home healthcare at home. What's so good about it is it bridges that gap between you're not ready for a skilled nursing facility yet you can't really afford to private pay for people to come to your home, which can be exorbitantly expensive. They're giving you 30 hours a week of care, and you're not paying a facility for that.
Tom: Folks, what we want you to know is that when you apply for the in-home care you're put on a list, and your name may not come up for 8 months, 10 months, or 12 months. You got to think ahead of time, and you might want to put in your application now and understand that you don't need it right now but 12 months from now you do need it. Or 12 months from now your name comes up and you say "I'm still not quite ready," well, you continue to be on the list and they'll call you again when it comes up again.
Robert: Exactly.
Tom: You don't have to be Medicaid compliant to put in your name on that list, but once your name does come up then we can assist them to get them Medicaid compliant.
Robert: Yes. That generally works and it works very smooth. The good news about that too, Tom, is once they are Medicaid compliant and they are receiving home healthcare, God forbid their condition worsens and they need to transition to a skilled nursing facility, they're already Medicaid-approved, so it's just a transition. There's no new applications, there's no other Medicaid-compliant tools needed, just a transfer.
Tom: Folks, if you want to get more information on this free in-home care we have a booklet for you. It's called How to Get Free In-home Care for Seniors. If you want to call our office, we'll get that in the mail to you. You can call right now and talk to Attorney Chris Merrill and give her that information for mailing it to you, at 407-423-5561. After the radio show today you can call any time. If nobody picks up, just leave your name and mailing address, we'll get that in the mail to you.
Or you can make a request for that booklet through our website, and that is olsenlawgroup.com. You can request booklets there, you can reserve your seat for the workshops that we're doing, and you can also send us a legal question, all through our website olsenlawgroup.com
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