Many times the hospital will make an application for Medi-Cal before a patient is discharged to a nursing home.  It usually happens when you sign all the discharge paperwork.  It is not uncommon for the family to be completely unaware a Medi-Cal application has even been made–until you start receiving requests from an “eligibility worker” at the Social Service Department.  Most people have no idea what is going on or what to do.  It is even possible for the resident in the nursing home to be denied Medi-Cal benefits without the family even knowing they applied.  This should be a major concern.

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The hospital may have thought they were doing you a favor, but unless you are on top of things and have properly positioned yourself to qualify, the hospital may have sealed your fate for a loss of benefits you could have preserved.  If your nursing home resident has more than $2000.00 in assets, you will get denied.  The problem is that unless the denial is appealed and won, you have locked in an $8000.00 per month bill to the nursing home and you will not be able to go back and pick up approval for past months–all because proper planning wasn’t done.

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If the hospital has already made the Medi-Cal application for you, it may still be possible to do the planning needed to assure Medi-Cal approval. Why lose any benefits if with a little expert help and proper planning you can prevent it?  Even if, worse case scenario, you have been denied in the past, the denial will not prevent you from planning properly and acquiring benefits for future months.  Give us a call now and let us save you money.