Senior Placement

When a loved one needs nursing home care, it can be an emotionally and mentally straining experience. It may be difficult to accept that someone we look up to may need assistance with everyday tasks to the point where they need to enter a nursing home or an assisted living facility. Furthermore, with so many nursing homes and assisted living facilities the process of finding a suitable place for your elder loved one. Each one with different—it raises the question, which one is best?

As a senior placement providers and elder care advisors, we are in regular contact with our network of nursing homes and assisted living facilities. Thanks to this network and constant communication, we know which places accept Medicaid and which places are private pay only. Additionally, we also keep in mind the specific programs and extra services they have.

Consider this case study: Ralph and Alice.

Ralph and Alice were high school sweethearts who lived in Saddle River, NJ, their entire adult lives. Two weeks ago, Ralph and Alice celebrated their 51^st anniversary. Yesterday, Alice, who has Alzheimer’s wandered away from home. Hours later she was found sitting on a street curb, talking incoherently. She was taken to a hospital and treated for dehydration. Ralph comes to see you after their family doctor tells him he needs to place Alice in a nursing home. He tells you they both grew up during the Depression and have always tried to save something every month. Their assets, totaling $100,000, not including their house, are as follows:

Savings Account……………………….$15,000

CDs…………………………………………..$45,000

Money Market Account……………$37,000

Checking Account……………………..$3,000

Residence (no mortgage) .………..$650,000

Ralph gets Social Security and Pension Checks totaling$1,500 each month. Alice’s check is $450. His eyes fill with tears, as he says, “At 8,500 to the nursing home every month, our life savings will be gone in less than three years!” What’s more he’s concerned he won’t be able to all their Social Security checks. There’s good news for Ralph and Alice. It’s possible he will get to keep his home and most of their assets… and still have the state Medicaid program pay Alice’s nursing home costs. While the process may take a little while, the end result will be worth it. To apply for Medicaid, he will have to go through New Jersey Family Care. If he does things strictly according to what FSD tells him, he will only be able to keep about ½ his assets (or about 50,000) plus he will keep is income. But the end results can be better than the traditional spend down, which everyone talks about. Ralph might be able to turn the spend down amount of roughly $50,000 into an income stream that will increase his income and meet the Medicaid spend down virtually right away. In other words, if handled properly Alice may be eligible for Medicaid from the first month that she goes into the nursing home. That’s why it’s important to have an Elder Care and Special Needs Advisor to guide you through the system and the Medicaid Process to find the strategies that will be most beneficial in your situation. So, he will have to get advice from someone who knows how to navigate the system. But with proper advice he may be able to keep what he and Alice have worked so hard for. This is possible because the law does not intend to impoverish one spouse while the other needs care in a nursing home. This is certainly an example of where knowledge of the rules and how to apply them can be used to resolve Ralph and Alice’s dilemma. Of course, proper Medicaid planning differs according to the relevant facts and circumstances of each situation as well as state law. 

To learn more about Federal National Funding click here or to have your questions regarding senior placement answered personally by one of our associates, please call out office at 201-342-3300. One of our associates will be happy to speak to you.