By skyforbes Edit: It's sounding like it's not going to be worth applying for Medicaid. The last time we did the home aides she qualified for 6 hours of help a week. From what I'm reading she'd have to pay $500/month before Medicaid will kick in. I'd rather just give my grandson that money and not have the hassle of Medicaid. Thanks everyone for the info!
My mom and I bought a house together in 9/2020. We each sold our smaller houses to purchase this home and move in together; along with my daughter and grandson. My daughter died in 2022, so it's just the 3 of us. Now we're considering applying for home care through the local senior agency (the plan is for my grandson to be paid through the home care agency). We did it a couple of years ago through a program they had. When that ended, we were told by the agency that she'd have to apply for Medicaid, would have a spend-down and we'd be putting the house at risk for recovery, so we didn't continue. Now she's at the point in her health and dementia that we need to seriously consider it again. The caseworker at the senior agency said Illinois would put a lien on the house, but according to the Illinois Medicaid Recovery website they stopped liens 6.2.2022 — she said she's still doing liens. Could someone explain to me how the spend-down works? Should we wait until after September to apply? September would be the 5 year mark for selling her house. She has no funds left from that house, but I'm not sure if that would matter. Anything else I should be asking? Thanks for your help!