Beyond Medicaid is an informational blog post that is part of a series based on my own experience with programs for individuals who need additional personal care assistance at home beyond Medicare and Medicaid.
For people like myself living in Nassau County, Long Island, New York who have qualified for and receive Medicaid through the Nassau County Social Services Department(1) but still need additional services or services beyond Long Island continue with additional services below.
In fact, these are outside of the range of what I refer to as plain ‘vanilla’ Medicaid. In order to proceed, the next step is to contact a ‘Simplified Medicare Agent’. I have had wonderful success with the person at the footnote below.(2)
Moving Along For my complex needs, I was assigned an agency care coordinator who navigated me through the ‘Baskin Robins’ flavors (as I call them) programs beyond Medicaid. This is exactly where the Beyond Medicaid extra help process got down to specifics for me. So let’s continue with the details.
The Central Nassau Guidance & Counseling Services
Central Nassau Guidance Services(3)
These are the step-by-step instructions for application and approved programs that I got assistance in my quest for extra help.
For example, the agency I get help from is Central Nassau Guidance Services. With the help of this organization, I have a care coordinator who guides and assists me with many personal and home care needs.
The New York Independent Assessor Application(4)
The next step in applying for extra help known as Medicaid Managed Long Term Care (MMLTC) is to contact the the New York Independent Assessor (NYIA). This process includes both phone and in-person interviews. If one qualifies, there are many services available.
But they are not as well known as programs like SNAP (food stamps) or as straight forward to receive. So it is very helpful if not essential to have a care coordinator to help one translate and navigate through the applications, then choose the assistance that may become available. When I started this whole dizzying process, it felt like a dictionary of foreign codes to me.
Medicaid Managed Long Term Care Program(5)
Medicaid Managed Long Term Care is the overall program you want to qualify for. It has a bounty of services with a variety of levels of home based care that may become available to an individual like myself who qualifies. Here’s what happened next for me.
Centers Plan for healthy Living Logo
Centers Plan for Healthy Living(6)
MMLTC is a program but not a place with public access. Therefore there are organizations that provide the next stage of service. One such organization is the Centers Plan for Health Living.
Through this organization, I have a care manager who oversees the care I get. In addition, she monitors my condition with a questionnaire to evaluate if I need more medical care or other services.
Current Assistance For now, there are primarily two categories of care in which I get supplementation. They are personal care and nutritional care. Each of these areas is overseen by the Centers Plan for Healthy Living but dispensed by independent agencies. In actuality, personal care is through the Cottage Home Care while nutrition is supplied by Mom’s Meals.
Cottage Home Care(7)This is a company that supplies home care aids to individuals who cannot manage completely on their own. Assistance ranges from a few hours a week to full time home care assistance. Meal preparation, personal hygiene, food shopping, laundry and light housekeeping can be included.
The Mom’s Meals logo
Mom’s Meals(8)This is a company that offers prepared meals delivered on a weekly basis. The number of meals provided is determined by the number of hours an individual receives in extra care to compensate for the need to prepare one’s own meals. In other words if an aid is available in the morning for 3.5/hrs per day 3 days a week, the aid can prepare breakfast 3 times per week.
Since I need help with breakfasts on the four other days and main meals every day, the total need for meal supplementation is eleven meals which are provided to me at no charge. I have found these to be a tremendous help. In fact, there are many meal choices to select from. The food is decent as well. All that is necessary is a short microwave warm up.
Conclusion This blog post, Beyond Medicaid may not answer all your questions about this topic. But it should cut down dramatically on the research you might have to do for getting extra help while you are still able to live at home. When you have to move on to assisted living or a nursing home, you will need other information. These are topics for future posts.
