Medicaid benefits can be crucial as you age, covering a massive part of your needed medical care and treatment. Yet, not everyone qualifies for these government benefits. That’s why you may need to engage in effective estate planning if you want to reduce your countable assets and income to meet the program’s eligibility threshold.
But, even if you qualify for Medicaid, you may find it difficult to secure the healthcare services that you need. This can be frustrating, and it can jeopardize your wellbeing. That’s one reason why you may want to seek out assistance from the Health Home program.
What is the Health Home program?
The Health Home program is a group of service providers that can help ensure that you receive the care that you need. A Medicaid Home Care Coordinator can then help you map out the treatment plan that is right for you. This may include accessing mental health services and addiction treatment programs, securing needed medication, and even finding housing and other benefits that you may need, such as transportation and food.
This coordinator may even help you secure long-term care, if that’s something that you need. This can be grueling process without assistance, as there are often lengthy applications that need to be submitted, and choosing the long-term care facility that is right for you can be difficult to navigate. But with the help of a Medicaid Home Care Coordinator, you don’t have to struggle through that process on your own.
How do you qualify for the program?
Although a lot of people can benefit from a Medicaid Home Care Coordinator, only some actually qualify for the service. In order to be eligible for this assistance, you have to first be enrolled in the Medicaid program.
Once you’ve done that, then you have to demonstrate that you meet one of two eligibility criteria. The first is that you suffer from two chronic medical conditions. This may include asthma, diabetes, a substance abuse addiction, or a whole host of other conditions.
The other way you can qualify is to show that you suffer from one of a number of identified conditions, such as a serious mental illness, complex trauma, HIV/AIDS, or sickle cell disease. You can find more about the conditions that qualify here.
Gathering the medical records needed to show eligibility
In order to ensure that you meet eligibility criteria, you’re going to have to submit evidence that demonstrates your medical conditions. Therefore, you’ll want to get in to see the doctor, get a diagnosis, and secure any follow up testing or treatment that he or she recommends. Once you have this documentation, you can submit it to Health Home Care Management Agency, which will then determine your eligibility.
Make sure you’re protecting yourself in the long-term
The need for extensive medical care can seem a long way off. That’s why a lot of people put off estate planning. But procrastinating can leave you with a lot of uncertainty, and when the time comes for medical treatment, which often happens more quickly than people expect, you can be taken by surprise and left without the resources that you need to secure the treatment you deserve.
That’s why now may be the best time for you to navigate your estate planning needs with the assistance of a qualified legal professional. By doing so, hopefully you’ll be able to protect yourself in both the short-term and the long-term so that then you can get back to living your life with peace of mind.
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