Will Medicaid Pay a Family Member to Care for Me in Indiana?

If you are an older individual who is struggling with the physical and/or mental deterioration that accompanies the aging process, you likely want to avoid the need to leave your home and move into a long-term care facility. If you are fortunate, you may have a family member who is willing to provide care; however, doing so may cause your family member to suffer financial hardship. The good news is that Medicaid may offer a solution. An Indianapolis Medicaid planning attorney at Frank & Kraft explains when Indiana Medicaid will pay a family member to provide care.

The Desire to Remain in Your Home

While Americans are fortunate to enjoy relatively long average life expectancy, an extended life often comes with an extended need for long-term care. Even if you are not one of the millions of older Americans living with Alzheimer’s disease, the natural aging process will still cause physical and/or mental deterioration eventually. That deterioration, in turn, can lead to the need for a caregiver. Understandably, most older individuals who need care do not want to leave their homes. If you are among them, your desire to remain in your home is certainly reasonable. At the same time, you may not want to financially burden a family member by allowing them to provide unpaid care to you. Fortunately, Medicaid may offer a way for you to remain in your home and provide compensation to your family member.

Indiana Medicaid Home and Community Based Waiver Services

The Medicaid program is a healthcare program that is primarily funded by the federal government but that is administered at the state level. There are a variety of categories of people serviced by Medicaid, including the “aged, blind, and disabled.” Historically, Medicaid would only cover caregiving services to elderly individuals if they were in a long-term care facility (nursing home). Now, however, Medicaid waiver programs cover caregiving services at the home and community level, allowing an elderly individual to delay or even avoid the need for placement in a long-term care facility.

In the State of Indiana, the Medicaid Home and Community Based Services (HCBS) waiver allows participants who are aged, blind, or disabled to remain in their home as an alternative to nursing facility placement. Within the HCBS waiver program is the Consumer Directed Attendant Care program (CDAC). The CDAC program lets participants select their own caregivers and monitor their own care. Although your spouse is not eligible, other family members may be eligible to be your caregiver. Medicaid provides funding for your caregiver at a rate established by the program each year.

To be eligible for a Medicaid waiver program, including the CDAC program that is part of the HCBS waiver, you must meet the following criteria:

To establish that you need nursing facility level of care you must prove that one of the following applies to you:

• An unstable, complex medical condition, which requires direct assistance from others for the following: decubitus ulcers, comatose condition, or management of severe pain.
• Need for direct assistance from others for medical equipment, such as a ventilator, suctioning, tube feeding, central intravenous access (I.V.).
• Need for direct assistance for special routines or prescribed treatments from others, such as tracheotomy, acute rehabilitation conditions, administration of continuous oxygen.
• Need for medical observation and physician assessment due to a changing, unstable physical condition.
• Other substantial medical conditions.

Do You Have Questions about Medicaid for the Aged in Indiana?

For more information, please join us for an upcoming FREE seminar. If you have questions about Medicaid for the aged in Indaina, contact an experienced Indianapolis Medicaid planning attorney at Frank & Kraft by calling (317) 684-1100 to schedule an appointment.

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