Medicaid Home Care Benefits in NY

There is a moment of pure release while traveling that does not exist in the regular world. It is the period of time after TSA screeners finish with your bags and body search, clearing you to venture forth toward your departing gate. You weren’t exactly fearful – there was no smuggling or subterfuge – but the security check was the culmination of a more general anxiety.

Parking, check-in, baggage fees, flight status, and all of the other logistical concerns pepper your brain in the minutes and hours prior to take off.

For me, the release and Zen-like calm coincides with a visit to the airport general store and newsstand. The online world fades away and the array of magazines and paperbacks grabs my full attention. It is a time of experimentation. You can choose magazines and books that you otherwise would have no direct exposure.

I grabbed a Harvard Business Review for the low, low price of $20 (the days of $1.95 magazines are long gone). There was a broken coffee cup on the cover that piqued my interest and my concern. Inside the magazine were the usual assortment of AI pieces explaining how easily I can be replaced by a free app. But on page 66, lo and behold, there was a substantial article on elder care and its impact on the American workforce.

Let this quote sink in: “For the first time in U.S. history, the number of working adults providing care to an older adult (nearly 23 million) has surpassed the number providing care to preschool children (21 million).”

Caring for an older loved one requires patience and an understanding of the benefits and programs which provide support. Working alone is a recipe for burnout and breakdown. When a loved one faces health challenges, your first instinct will be to run over to their home with soup, a hospital bed, and a shower seat – and that would be 100 percent correct.

Your second instinct should be to contact an elder care attorney to prepare a long-term care plan.

New York has a Medicaid Home Care system that is workable and flexible. The application has a part covering proof of identification, health insurance, and income, plus a second part listing assets. Community-based Medicaid Home Care does not penalize financial transfers. An individual in need of home care is allowed to hold $32,396 in resources, not including a home, one car, or qualified retirement accounts (IRAs, 401Ks, 403Bs). Excess resources may be transferred to another person or a trust without impacting Medicaid eligibility for home care.

Monthly income (Social Security, pensions, interest/dividend income) is considered separately from resources and is limited to $1,800 per month. Excess income can be protected by using supplemental needs pooled income trusts administered by not-for-profit agencies that allow a loved one to shield the income they make above the $1,800 per month for a small fee, and use that income to pay expenses.

So what does Medicaid Home Care offer?

After eligibility is obtained, your loved one will be assessed to determine hours of care required. Home health aides will be paid by Medicaid to provide assistance with bathing, dressing, and grooming, as well as meal preparation, light housekeeping, mobility, and continence care. Consumer-directed aides (aides chosen directly by the Medicaid recipient) may provide additional services.

If your loved one has more serious health care needs, New York State offers a Medicaid nursing home transition and diversion waivered home care program that can be 24/7 with greater care support. The program maintains the same eligibility guidelines as basic community home care Medicaid. It takes longer to set up but its benefits are worthwhile.

Balancing the care needs of a loved one with the financial and legal realities of maintaining a household and not squandering a family’s resources requires professional guidance. An airport magazine may alert you to the issue, but seeking out a skilled elder care firm to address the issue is the right approach.

Alan D. Feller, Esq., is managing partner of The Feller Group, located at 572 Route 6, Suite 103, Mahopac. He can be reached at alandfeller@thefellergroup.com.