My mom has been drawing my dad's SSA and his VA Dependency and Indemnity Compensation the SSA is $1500 the VACP is $2120.36. I am trying to get her placed in a Nursing Home as I can't care for her at home anymore she is in ICU right now but they are moving her to Nursing Home for Skilled Rehab. Not sure how long she will stay on that but then want her to go on Long Term Care. Some are saying she makes to much also we live in Oklahoma. Can't I just cancel her VACP then she qualifies?
What will have to happen for being over resourced on income is 1 of those incomes will change so that she technically will no longer be the “owner”. Just how it can happen depends on what her States laws allow. Some allow for a QIT, or a Miller Trust, or do a “pooled income”. It is on you as the PoA to deal with this & find out just what’s what for your State. And that means elder law atty with LTC Medicaid expertise by & large.
So let’s say mom’s State allows for Miller. So what can happen is her SSA of $1500 as it is a completely guaranteed income source, it can go into the Miller. So now the Miller Trust owns it. Voila! Mom now only has that $2126.30 of other income, so she’s is under the $2901 max. Happiness all around!
How Miller runs is totally State dependent. Some have it easy peasy paperwork and have precise banks that are the only ones who do Miller accounts. (fwiw these banks will probably also be the only banks that do ABLE accounts). And other States for their Miller will need for an elder law attorney to shepherd the process. And for more fun some States do NOT allow for Miller at all.
Mom cannot do a disclaimer / refusal to be paid that VA $. Medicaid is pretty strict on stuff like this. It actually happens often as elder ends up being a beneficiary in the will of an equally elderly sibling or ex-spouse…. they cannot refuse it.
VA stuff is really not my wheelhouse. However, I’m remembering, that for the VA aid & attendance system, the payments will stop if they enter a long term custodial care facility and file for LTC Medicaid. VA will switch it to a $90 a mo stipend & it did not count as income for LTC Medicaid. Try to find out if this will happen for the VA Dependency like it did for Aid & Attendance. For the switch from A&A to the stipend seemed to take a good period of time, then suddenly in 1 day VA would clawback each mo paid for that period and then do a retro $90 for those same months. The LTC Medicaid casework kinda ignores the VA A&A $ for the application processing.
!!!To me what is super important is to find out exactly IF THIS IS WHAT that DEPENDENTCY does!!! If this is what that Dependency will be doing, no need for a Miller etc. Please remember DO NOT SPEND THE $ as it will eventually clawback.
Realize that her rehabilitation stay is covered by her health insurance. So every day she is in rehab gives you another day to figure all this out. You want her to do rehab as long as possible. If she gets all “not today, I hurt” she will be discharged from rehab quickly. If you need to be a cheerleader for her to be motivated, do it. Most rehab is 21-28 days. That is your window of time to get a plan in place, get whatever paperwork needed to get her LTC medicaid eligible, do or refresh her legal, do a spend down on assets if need be, so that she can go from being a rehab patient on health insurance to becoming a custodial care resident on LTC Medicaid.
"VA Dependency and Indemnity Compensation (DIC) provides tax-free monthly payments to survivors (spouses, children, parents) of deceased service members or veterans whose death was service-connected, and it can work with long-term care Medicaid; DIC itself isn't income-based, but it counts as income, so you'll need to manage assets to qualify for Medicaid, potentially using VA benefits to pay for care (like Aid & Attendance) while qualifying for Medicaid for other needs, often requiring specialized elder law help to coordinate."
Best of luck to you.
Moreover, if her monthly assets are too high (and they will know exactly) then you need an attorney to help you do a QIT Trust or Miller Trust to get some of her funds, either SS or VA put into a Trust, effectively lowering her income so she qualifies for help. That Trust money WILL BE used when she passes in order for the government to be compensated for her care they provided funds to. So the beneficiary of said trust isn't her family heirs, but the entity that paid for some of her care.
This is, as you can imagine, legally complicated help you require. We are just a mess of caregivers from all the states and even from around the world. We are working on our own financial problems with the same expert help.
Sure do wish you best of luck but ACCESS the SOCIAL WORKERS/Discharge planners. They have the information and help and access you need. Be the squeaky wheel at their door way every day until you get the help you need. And ask about good financial help.
You may ALSO have access to Social Worker through VA, but I don't honestly have a clue. Can only wish you best, and hope you will update on how it goes, what works and who is the most help to you.
We learn, here, from one another.
or
Call the VA and ask to talk to a Social Worker there or possibly a Patient Advocate.