Eldercare update
Marvin gave us quite a scare last week, when he took a fall in the bathroom. The nurses sent him over to the hospital as a precaution, but he wasn't admitted, and now he's back at the nursing home.
For the moment.
I'm not sure what's going to happen.
Back in March, when Drew first got involved, the issue was "what does Marvin want to do?" Right after surgery, Marvin told the staff at the hospital that he didn't want to see Shelley and that he didn't want to go back to Shelley's house. By the time he got to rehab, he was vacillating.
Drew felt Marvin would be better off as a permanent resident of a nursing facility, and had extensive discussions with the social worker about how to make that happen. Later, there was talk of Marvin going back to Shelley's house, but with a home health care aide. The aide would assist him during the day, and he'd have to rely on Shelley at night.
In light of recent events, we don't think its feasible for Marvin to live with Shelley, even with an aide.
But there's the problem:
One of the quirks of Medicare is the limitation it places on rehabilitative care. If you're sent to a nursing home for rehab, your coverage runs out 90 days after you are admitted to the facility. Today is day 90 for Marvin.
Marvin's income is limited to his Social Security check, and he has no assets. Drew had assumed that Marvin was receiving Medicaid benefits, but recently found out that Marvin isn't enrolled in Medicaid.
That's a huge problem, as Drew found out when he brought his father up to New York, and wound up paying for his father's nursing home care for 5 months until the Medicaid kicked in.
Marvin's finances are a disaster. Marvin gave Shelley a power of attorney, and she handled everything for him, but never kept a receipt. She also put a lot of her own money into Marvin's bank account to hide it from her creditors. Last year, Adult Protective Services took over Marvin's account because they saw Shelley making a lot of withdrawals from the account, and thought she might be stealing from him. She cannot prove that the money is hers, so ...he's going to have to do a "spend down", i.e.., that money will either be used to pay for his care or to prepay his funeral.
Getting Marvin enrolled in Medicaid is going to be a nightmare.
But that's nothing compared to the nightmare of dealing with Shelley when she finds out.
For the moment.
I'm not sure what's going to happen.
Back in March, when Drew first got involved, the issue was "what does Marvin want to do?" Right after surgery, Marvin told the staff at the hospital that he didn't want to see Shelley and that he didn't want to go back to Shelley's house. By the time he got to rehab, he was vacillating.
Drew felt Marvin would be better off as a permanent resident of a nursing facility, and had extensive discussions with the social worker about how to make that happen. Later, there was talk of Marvin going back to Shelley's house, but with a home health care aide. The aide would assist him during the day, and he'd have to rely on Shelley at night.
In light of recent events, we don't think its feasible for Marvin to live with Shelley, even with an aide.
But there's the problem:
One of the quirks of Medicare is the limitation it places on rehabilitative care. If you're sent to a nursing home for rehab, your coverage runs out 90 days after you are admitted to the facility. Today is day 90 for Marvin.
Marvin's income is limited to his Social Security check, and he has no assets. Drew had assumed that Marvin was receiving Medicaid benefits, but recently found out that Marvin isn't enrolled in Medicaid.
That's a huge problem, as Drew found out when he brought his father up to New York, and wound up paying for his father's nursing home care for 5 months until the Medicaid kicked in.
Marvin's finances are a disaster. Marvin gave Shelley a power of attorney, and she handled everything for him, but never kept a receipt. She also put a lot of her own money into Marvin's bank account to hide it from her creditors. Last year, Adult Protective Services took over Marvin's account because they saw Shelley making a lot of withdrawals from the account, and thought she might be stealing from him. She cannot prove that the money is hers, so ...he's going to have to do a "spend down", i.e.., that money will either be used to pay for his care or to prepay his funeral.
Getting Marvin enrolled in Medicaid is going to be a nightmare.
But that's nothing compared to the nightmare of dealing with Shelley when she finds out.
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