Affording Home Care

All families would prefer keeping their loved ones at home, instead of a nursing home, if long term care is needed. Few children can afford to give up their jobs to take care of mom or dad, twenty four hours per day. And at some point it is just physically exhausting and not practical. The answer is getting one or more government home care programs to supplement, or completely pay for that homecare. If either mom or dad was a wartime veteran, meaning active duty during set time periods (by example, Vietnam wartime is set by law between August 5,
1964 and May 7, 1975), they must first apply for VA Aid and Attendance which can pay monthly up to $2,229 for a single person, and $2,642 for a married veteran.

If more care is needed, the Connecticut Home Care Program for Elders Level II can pay up to $3685 per month for a single person with a co-pay of 3% of the total cost of care. The top level is Medicaid (Title 19) which can pay up to $7370 per month. That is a lot of care and it can be live-in care as long as the aide can receive at least 5 hours of uninterrupted sleep at night. So if a parent lives with a child who can cover that 5 hours each day, it is possible to keep that parent at home.

There is also a monthly income limit of $2742 but if the applicant’s income is over that amount, the rules allow the excess amount to be paid into a fund called a pooled trust, run by PLAN of Connecticut, and those funds can be used to pay expenses that are higher than the monthly income. PLAN of Connecticut requires that the family hire an attorney who knows how to do the pooled trust. In short, a large percentage of people can get the home care needed to avoid being placed in a facility. 

For Medicaid, the applicant must also physically qualify, either by being unable to do three or more activities of daily living, such as bathing, dressing, transferring, toileting and feeding. If the applicant is an overall safety risk, due to a cognitive impairment which requires daily supervision to prevent harm, then that meets the test of needing care.

The state hires a company, such as Connecticut Community Care, to evaluate the person’s need for care. Our firm has very experienced Elder Care Coordinators who work with the family and the company hired by the state to assist in the physical evaluation and the development of a plan that will keep the elder person safe and at home.

In certain cases, it is even possible for a family member, residing with the elder person, to receive payment for providing care. This can be important if that family member could not afford to give care if they had to give up a job.

Although the Connecticut rules are as strict as anywhere in the country, the funding is there to keep people at home if at all possible. And although we hope the risk of COVID is substantially reduced, Connecticut’s home care options go a long way toward avoiding that risk by staying out of an institution.