
My understanding is that the home will accept what the Medicaid waiver provides in lieu of mom dipping into her very low savings. She will continue to essentially turn over her social security and pension and they will accept that as payment, since they will now have access to "a pool of money" from Medicaid.
I have applied for Medicaid and the waiver for her, with guidance from the group home, I am just not real clear how the process actually works and how much I will know, or does all the information go to the group home.
Will we have to reapply every year? I am hoping the hardest parts are behind us.
I don't think she should be handing over her SS directly to the care home. Unless that is the arrangement that Medicaid has made.
You would not reapply every year, but will receive a renewal form every year from Medicaid, to verify that all information is the same, and allow you to state any changes in income, assets, who is providing care, etc.
Medicaid varies by state but the app process seems to be mostly the same overall.
If your Mom gets rejected, it doesn't mean she will never qualify -- there are strategies like QIT (Qualified Income Trust) that can get her SSI down to the required level. In most states there is a 5-yr "look back" period where, if they see something suspect, they can go back 5 years to clarify what they see.
In my MIL's case she had to reapply in her second and third year, and after that she didn't have to do it anymore. This also may vary by state.