Medicaid-It’s Complicated and Important
Huffington Post’s Post50’s blog on November 29 featured the post, 5 Common Misconceptions About Medicaid. The author, Anne Tumlinson,opens the post
I have a confession. I’ve been avoiding writing about Medicaid. It’s so complicated it scares me. But, Medicaid can be really important to daughterhood because someday you might have to decide if it’s right for your parent. So you have to get smart about it.
She explains the importance of the Medicaid program as a “safety net for when everything falls apart” and after a brief description, moves into a discussion of the 5 misconceptions:
- “Medicaid is a lot like Medicare…
- Medicaid is available to everyone…
- Medicaid Will Take Your Parents’ Home…
- Medicaid is a national program that’s the same for everyone…
- Medicaid only covers nursing homes….”
With each she offers explanations as to what Medicaid really covers and concludes her post noting
When is Medicaid right for your parent? It depends on so many individual and family circumstances. And, it depends on your state. There are no hard and fast rules. But, if you’ve been walking down this caregiving road for a long time and you are looking at nursing home care, Medicaid may be necessary to pay for the care. OR, if your parent’s money is running out because of expensive care — even if he or she isn’t in a nursing home — then it could be helpful, especially if there’s a good community program in your parent’s local area… [a]nd, figuring this program out for your family is not easy. Just remember that it’s a crazy complicated hard situation. Not that you are failing.
Note, you can also access her post on her blog here.