Follow
Share

I am helping my partner who is getting ready to file a Medicaid application in NY for his mother. We went to an elder care attorney together to get basic questions answered and to have a durable POA done. The attorney said his mother will be eligible for Medicaid. She has very low monthly income, no assets at all, less than $2k in the bank and is a single. We are waiting to see how much the elder care law firm will charge to file the application but based on what I am seeing in this part of NY it will most likely be no less than $5,000 and probably much more. Because of her low income, no assets, etc. this should be a fairly straightforward application, but because I am in the legal field (and file a lot of other types of NY State forms) I know how difficult some can be and how easily they can be denied but I am still leaning toward having my partner and I prepare it ourselves rather than spend so much with an attorney. I do fully understand the benefits of having an attorney file but in this case I'm not sure it is worth it. We know we can enlist the help of our County's Social Services office but I also came across (on this forum) someone who mentioned the website/company eldercareresourceplanning.org I haven't found anything negative about them. Has anyone here has actually used their services to help with Medicaid application. Thank you very much in advance. Sorry for the long post.

Have you actually downloaded the Medicaid app on the county's website to see what info they need? When I did it for my MIL back in 2018, here's what they wanted:

Full legal name, DOB, citizenship, current residence/mailing address, SSN, phone/contact
Banking info (checking, savings)
Income: (does she get a pension?)
Property (does she own a home? If not, pay a mortgage? Own more than 1 property?)
Own a car (how many)?
Assets (any other investments or income)
Medical bills (they want to see copies of any medical bills that she owes or paid within the 3 months of the Medicaid application).

This is not all they ask but it shows you that you will need to provide this info to anyone making the app for you, so why bother paying them?

I printed out 2 copies: 1 was my work sheet and the other was the final. It's not rocket science.
Helpful Answer (4)
Reply to Geaton777
Report

Enlist your County Social Service Office if you are not sure about filling out and filing the paperwork yourselves. This is what they do and since they do it often I am sure that few of the applications are sent back.
As a bonus they may be aware of other programs that might help your friend so take advantage of their expertise.
Unless the application is involved and there are questions I see no benefit in paying someone to do something that can be done by people that I am actually paying already with my tax dollars.
Helpful Answer (2)
Reply to Grandma1954
Report

If the application is pretty much cut and dry, make an appt with Social Services to apply with the help of a Medicaid caseworker. I took what paperwork I felt would be needed. The caseworker did the application right on his computer. He asked me questions, I answered them. He gave me a list of info I still needed to provide. I had 90 days from date of application to spenddown any assets Mom had, get them info needed and find a place. Mom paid 2 months privately, I did everything needed, and Medicaid started the 3rd month.
Helpful Answer (1)
Reply to JoAnn29
Report

I agree with Geaton. With your history I think you are fully capable of doing this, and if there are problems you can then get help. Ask around and find people at your own professional level who have already done this. I think you can get help with this. Good luck.
Helpful Answer (0)
Reply to AlvaDeer
Report

Great. Thank you very much everyone. I really appreciate all the thoughtful answers. I think we are on the right track. We will definitely meet with our county social services.
Helpful Answer (0)
Reply to CalicoNY
Report

Ask a Question
Subscribe to
Our Newsletter