Taking care of your elderly loved one is extremely challenging. Sometimes the task simply becomes too big and specialized help is necessary. That’s often when financial struggles begin. Luckily, there’s Medicaid funding available to help families in need.
Medicaid application process is very complicated though. It is very difficult to understand all of the rules and regulations in the first attempt. That’s why we’re here: we tell you what documents to prepare ahead of time, we answer all of your questions, we talk to the Medicaid office on your behalf. Today we’re bringing you the story of Kathy, our client whose Medi-Cal application for her Mom was approved.
I can’t say enough good things about Eldercare Resource Planning (ECRP). They were truly a lifesaver when my family needed help getting care for my mother.
My mother had a stroke in 2014 and developed dementia shortly thereafter. She was formally diagnosed with Alzheimer’s in early 2017.
By the summer of 2017, it became evident that my father (who was 88 at the time) could no longer take care of my mother. I started looking into nursing home care for my Mom. My parents had exhausted their retirement savings and were living solely on social security. It very quickly became obvious that there was no way my family could afford nursing home care for my Mom.
I started doing research at the Medi-Cal website to see if my Mom could qualify for assistance. It looked like a daunting process to go through the application process with page after page of rules and regulations. I also called Medi-Cal and spoke with a customer service employee. After reviewing my parent’s financial information with the customer service rep, I was told that my parents received too much income from Social Security for my Mom to qualify for Medi-Cal assistance and not to waste my time applying.
As a last resort, I then started looking for an eldercare consultant to help me brainstorm ideas for my Mom’s care. I found Eldercare Resource Planning on the Internet.
From the first time I spoke with the team at Eldercare Resource Planning, I was impressed with their knowledge of the Medi-Cal system and their compassion for my family’s situation. I had an initial phone consultation with Michael Guerrero, and after reviewing my parents’ situation and finances, he felt that there was indeed a possibility of my Mom qualifying for Medi-Cal.
I supplied the team at ECRP with the information they needed to submit an application to Medi-Cal for my Mom, and they took ownership of the process from there on out. I was surprised by how time-consuming the process was, and relieved that I had a team of people who were experts in dealing with the Medi-Cal system handling the application process for us.
I was impressed by the team’s patience and perseverance as my Mom’s application moved slowly through the Medi-Cal system and requests came back for additional information or resubmittal of information that we had already given them. The slowness of the process was frustrating for me at times, but the ECRP team stayed on top of the situation and made sure that every request from Medi-Cal was responded to quickly and accurately.
After several months of work by ECRP, my mother’s application was approved. Initially, she was approved for in-home caregiving 3 days a week paid for by Medi-Cal. As my Mom’s health declined over the coming months, her doctor told us that she needed full-time care. I reached out again to ECRP and they helped me through the process of getting nursing home care approved for my Mom.
I am so grateful to the team at ECRP. I work full-time and there is no way I could have managed the Medi-Cal application process on my own. Their expertise, understanding and continuing support have been invaluable to me and my family. I highly recommend their services to anyone who is dealing with a family member in need of care that they cannot afford.
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