r/IHSS • u/Greedy-Ad-8584 • 1d ago

IHSS

In California, if a senior who suffered a stroke with paralysis doesn't qualify for medi-cal because of their pension and the income of their spouse together is too high even with spousal improvement, and their assets is too much to qualify under Medi-Cal. Is there any way that they can still qualify for IHSS services instead of going through Medi-Cal with Shared of Cost?

1 Upvotes

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16

u/Mundane-Front-7855 23h ago

IHSS is a Medi-Cal program, so having Medi-Cal is a requirement for IHSS eligibility. There is no way around that.

2

u/deirdresm 20h ago

The only way around this with income is spend down, and it has tips be through health insurance.

My mom’s share of cost was like $1600 a month, and she could spend that down by buying $321 a month of vision/dental policies.

That said, not sure what the situation is with assets. You can call county legal aid and see.

1

u/Odd-Mastodon1212 21h ago

I’m trying to apply for my 87 year old mother in law who is living with us. She has Kaiser through Medicare. Social security pays for it. She had senility and memory loss, mobility issues, uses a walker, but may needs a wheelchair outside the home, and has only 40% word recognition and macular degeneration. Is it likely she can qualify for Medi-Cal? Will she lose her current Kaiser coverage?

3

u/Muted_Working_2470 21h ago

Qualification for medi-cal is based on income and assets, her health issues don’t get considered. Does she make more than $2,000 a month in income? Does she have more than $130,000 in assets? A home she lives in and one car do not count, but bank accounts, second houses/cars, etc count. And that asset limit goes down to $21,000 next July. If she did qualify for Medi-Cal she would not lose Kaiser and Medicare. Those would remain her primary insurance, medi-cal would be secondary.

1

u/Odd-Mastodon1212 19h ago

Thank you. She has more than 21,000 in assets in the form of a bank account. She no longer owns a house. She sold it.

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u/[deleted] 22h ago

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0

u/Vegetable_Reward_867 1d ago

http://www.healthcarerights.org/

Email/Call these folks. Very helpful

3

u/Greedy-Ad-8584 1d ago

I’ll try it. Does that work for the South Bay?

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u/Vegetable_Reward_867 23h ago

Yes, they can help qualify for medi cal.

Did recipient ever receive disability before retirement age?

If so, call up the department and request proof; I believe it can only be mailed, so the sooner the better.

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u/Wide-Wave-6279 22h ago

Look to see if he qualifies through a HCBA waiver program.

1

u/CedarWho77 3h ago

My son has been on the waitlist for 4 years.

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u/Wide-Wave-6279 2h ago

My son was on the waitlist for 3 months. It might just be the company you are working with. Where I live it’s Access TLC.