My mother has end stage COPD and had an exasperation last January which put her in ICU for 3 weeks. She then went to a repiratory care facility until May. In May, we brought her home and pay for nurses to come to the house and my family and I do as much nursing time as we can to save the money. We are getting low on funds at this point and Medicare does not pay for any private duty nursing. We have had an elder care lawyer who basically told us we would need to put her back in a home to get money for anything. When she was at the facility, she was in diapers, having seizures and getting multiple infections. Since she has been home, she has not had many issues at all. My father is not in the best of health either. I am looking for any avenues of assistance. We are trying to sell my father's business and may have to reverse morgage their house. Once those things are done, we can apply for Medicaid but Medicaid does not pay for Private Duty Home Health either. I feel like there is no winning. Please help!
I learned about this option of ownership/leasing through transactional law at one of the law firms for which I worked.
I know the difficulty of finding a good facility with vent capability. I went through that when my father was on a ventilator.
Wish I had some suggestions but offhand I can't think of anything else. Hopefully some other posters will have experience with home vent care.
I do remember though that when my father was on a ventilator I did some research and found a Trach forum, with a lot of very, very helpful information on dealing with trachs. On a hunch, I just did a quick search and found a vent forum. P'M that info to you in a few.
It is my father's business, not a family business. I wish I could afford to buy it and fix it up and run it.
I have contacted the American Lung Association and multiple other organizations, but there are no financial assistance. Can't get anything until we are broke but once broke have to put her in a home. There are not many ventilator facilities and the ones there are are not good ones at all and very far away.
The Area of Aging is not very helpful when you have any money. They just say call back when you are Medicaid eligible. I am not saying they are rich by any means either.
She needs someone to carry the vent when she moves, suction and give her the meds.
I'm not well versed in the intricacies of Medicaid, but wonder about the advisability of getting a reverse mortgage, then applying for Medicaid. Hopefully others will come along and advise whether the proceeds from an RM would be considered assets.
In addition, is the business your father's only, or is it a family business?
I don't really have any suggestions other than to wonder if any of the lung organizations might have some suggestions since your mother does have COPD.
You might also be able to get some advice from the local Area Agency on Aging as to help in paying for a private duty nurse.
I assume this is in part due to the suctioning needed because she's on a ventilator?