Senath Health Care Center

Caring for someone who has dementia or Alzheimer’s can be very challenging. While every situation is different, there are some key signs that a dementia patient should be moved into a facility with care available around the clock. Some of these signs include:

• Frequent wandering
• Difficulty moving around
• No caregiver available locally
• Family caregivers are stressed and unable to maintain a balanced life

If you encounter a problem at a nursing home, the first step is to talk to the staff about reporting procedures. Many facilities have social workers or other professionals on hand specifically to deal with problems that may arise. The facility should also have a procedure in place to report problems internally. If the problem isn’t solved, you can report the nursing home to a state office or advocacy group. Your state’s department of health should have information available about how to report a nursing home.

Moving a patient to a new nursing home can be difficult, particularly if you are using Medicaid to pay for your care. If you are staying in the same state, you will just need to make sure that the new nursing home has Medicaid beds available. However, if you are moving to a different state, you will need to apply for Medicaid separately in that state. Every state has different Medicaid rules, so this process can take some time.

If you are paying your nursing home costs with savings or long-term care insurance, you won’t have to worry about losing your assets. However, if you are using Medicaid to pay for your nursing home costs, you may have to forfeit your assets in order to qualify for coverage. This is because Medicaid is only available to individuals who fall under a certain income limit.

Nursing home expenses can be drastically different depending on what state you are in. Learn more information about the average costs for a month in a private room in a nursing home in each state.