There are two myths about Medi-Cal that are dangerous. The first is that if you run out of money paying for care, the state will start paying for your care. The reality is the state only pays for Medi-Cal-approved facilities, and these are skilled nursing facilities. Even if a facility has been approved for the ALF Waiver, Medi-Cal won’t pay unless the person qualifies for that program and is given one of the limited waiver spots. The current wait for a spot is about a year. The second myth is that you should qualify and apply before you need skilled care so you have Medi-Cal when the time comes. There is no advantage to having Medi-Cal, and if you have a share of cost, you could end up paying MORE for medical services than if you just have Medicare.
I help families plan for a caregiving journey. I know that the journey is long and that most of the services we want are private pay. I have been in skilled nursing homes (they look like hospitals) and in private-pay memory care and board-and-care facilities. There is a difference. Medi-Cal-approved facilities are often subpar. That is why when I help a family plan for long-term care, I encourage looking at all the options, including insurance, annuities, reverse mortgages, selling a home and buying into a Continuing Care Retirement Community, etc. I don’t just “do Medi-Cal Asset Protection Trusts” without knowing what Medi-Cal actually pays for.
I have lived the journey. I paid for private care even though my husband qualified for Medi-Cal. He had dementia, and a skilled nursing home would have been awful for him. I would have hated seeing him there. I also invested in a life insurance policy with a long-term care rider that helped pay for the care. The policy helped me leverage my money so that there was more available than I invested. If you want to leverage your money so that you can privately pay for the best care for your loved one, let me know.
