I have been learning how to submit a claim on the KyHealth-Net system. We have been providing care for three Medicaid eligible members for several months and have yet to receive a reimbursement check. It is an incredibly complicated process.

I have also been learning how to help someone through the process of applying for Medicaid to pay for home and community based services, of which we are one. I spent an hour in the local DCBS office just to get an answer to a question after waiting on the phone for three hours and talking to three people and still not finding an answer to my question. The ‘answer’ I was given at the DCBS office turned out to be the wrong answer. So here we are a week later….because after a phone call and another phone call, and printing out the forms as I was directed, and after our RN, the caregiver of the Medicaid eligible member, and her doctor fills them out, I am to submit them to MWMA and to do that I have to call someone so they can walk me through how to submit them to MWMA….we still are not in a position to be reimbursed.

The Veteran’s Aid and Attendance Program takes a long time to initiate too, I am told, but it is up to the eligible member and/or their caregiver to help them through that process. I do have some contacts to give people who can help them, however. The Veteran’s Aid and Attendance Program is for veterans who were serving in active duty during a war time and their spouses. It is needs based and pays per month for help with long term care. Here is a link you might like to explore: http://www.benefits.va.gov/pension/aid_attendance_housebound.asp

I strongly urge people who are in their fifties and who have been saving for their retirement all their lives to invest in some type of long term care insurance. There are many new and innovative products that have come out recently that take some of the risk of long term care insurance away (people are always reluctant to purchase LTC insurance because they wonder if they will ever use it) by providing a benefit of long term care payments if they experience a loss of two or more activities of daily living or dementia and need custodial care, OR benefits to heirs upon their death, plus other options.

We only had one person come by to have their caricature done today. It was a good day, albeit a little quiet. It would have been more fun with more people. If you know of someone who may benefit from a daytime program of healthcare delivered in a fun and respectful way, please tell them about Aging With Grace. We are also here for people who want to focus on prevention. Still working on getting Silver Sneaker certification.

May you and yours have a beautiful and blessed first week of February!