ElderCare Advocacy

12/08/2024

"slowly, without sensing it, we grow old"...

Cicero quoted in "Our Evenings" by Alan Hollinghurst. Great book!

04/12/2024

We are having great success in getting Medicaid Home Care approvals in 4 weeks. Sorry, it is a secret. Of course, after the Medicaid is approved, we help family prepare for the MLTC evaluations which is most important to maximize the hours. Lately, most MLTC's have been significantly "stingy" with approved hours even though our clients qualify for more hours according to NYS regulations. The MLTC's have devised their own assessment tool(UAS) which reduces care needed by timed tasks. Anyone who has helped a parent/spouse take a shower, knows it takes more than 15 minutes. Especially, if they have dementia in additional to an orthopedic disability. That's once example.
So, in those cases, we apply for appeals and sometimes need to go to a Fair Hearing to get the necessary level of care to keep our clients safe and well nourished in their own home.
We are also, applying for the NHTD program, when necessary, especially for those with dementia.
www.eldercareadvocacy.com
Rosemarie Ruggero

Caring for an aging family member can be stressful and overwhelming, especially when you may have your own personal and work responsibilities. In your efforts to be supportive, you may find that your tasks continue to grow so that you have become their chauffeur, housekeeper, food shopper, cook, bil...

04/25/2023

Last week Danielle Murante and I attended the Aging Life Care Association's National Conference in San Diego. Besides having the opportunity to network with colleagues from all over the United States, we attended many helpful workshops to improve our knowledge and skills to bring to our clients. Most importantly, we learned innovative approaches to help clients with anxiety related to Dementia. We welcome telephone consultations from family members struggling with providing care for their elders or disabled adults. We are experts in facilitating Medicaid eligibility, application and coordination of services. Visit our website at www.eldercareadvocacy.com or call (718)447-3824

Caring for an aging family member can be stressful and overwhelming, especially when you may have your own personal and work responsibilities. In your efforts to be supportive, you may find that your tasks continue to grow so that you have become their chauffeur, housekeeper, food shopper, cook, bil...

03/04/2020

Immediate Need Medicaid Applications are a great benefit to those being discharged from a hospital or nursing home, wherein, with the correct documentation will allow us to obtain a Medicaid Approval within weeks and home care services to start soon after. This is our area of expertise and we encourage those frail elders or their children to contact ElderCare Advocacy, so that we may strategize and facilitate Medicaid eligibility and apply for those benefits. We will meet with the family in the nursing home and begin the process immediately.
If a family waits to go home to see if they can manage and then decide to apply for Medicaid Home Care, it can take 3 - 4 months for Medicaid Home Care services to be in place.

12/04/2019

When shopping for Christmas gifts for seniors, keep it simple and focus on items that bring up memories...photos and especially music. If one of your elder family members has dementia, it's important to keep in mind that music memory is the last to go. A small ipod with downloaded music from their era will bring a smile to their face and they may even start singing. It can be a valuable tool for those that may become agitated...try music before meds.

10/08/2019

So pleased that we have secured two twelve hour shifts for a bedridden patient through Medicaid. Not easy but with proper documentation, it can be done.

09/20/2019

Yesterday I met with two elderly Italian immigrants from Naples that moved to the US when children to escape the N**i scourge of their country. They recounted their experiences as 7 and 4 yo children running for cover from overhead fire shot from planes. One woman was injured and showed me the big bullet wound on her thigh. They escaped with their mother (father had passed years ago) to Calabria and stayed in a one room school house with other families for months. When they returned to their home, half had been destroyed and their mother rebuilt the home. They immigrated to the US in the early 40's, married and had children. The older sister lost her husband at a young age, lost her son two years ago and her developmentally disabled daughter a month ago. Her younger sister also lost her husband at a young age and lost a 30 yo beloved grandson. During the Binghamton Conference we learned about adversity and trauma and how it effects us, especially if experienced during childhood. These two ladies, in spite of all the trauma they experienced both as children and adults, presented as solid warm and friendly, though the eldest did tear up something her family stated she never did. Hopefully, recounting some of these terrible experiences will prove to be helpful as we all tend to not want to disclose or discuss traumatic events, but research shows that it is helpful. Again, I feel blessed that this family felt comfortable enough to share their story.

09/14/2019

Being an Aging Life Care Manager is the best job in the world. That's what I was thinking when I left my most recent home consultation with a 93 year old male with his children and spouse. While gaunt and expressionless initially, this gentleman repeatedly impressed as he shared his history from his days in the armed forces (my prompting of course...I loved hearing my own father's stories and looking at his pictures during his WWII service), from his days as a Principle and a Professor, as well as a musician and folk singer. When one of his children mentioned it was Sept 11th, the Elder pulled out a harmonica and a song sheet of a Joni Mitchell melancholy tune. He played the tune on the harmonica first and then we all sang the song softly. The meeting was 3 1/2 hours long as I also needed to review medical, functional, financial, and familial concerns while happily listening to this family's rich history.

07/12/2019

05/31/2019

Would you believe Medicaid discontinued home care services for an elderly client that lived alone because she received a $4 increase in her social security income! No matter how many workers at Medicaid that we called to protest this error, we got nowhere. We had to go to a Fair Hearing to point out the error and still the Administrative Judge would not make a decision til "all the facts" were analyzed. I questioned him about how long it would take to receive a decision and he said, "I don't know, you may have to come back but I get paid anyway"!!!! I replied that I get paid to appear as well but this is not how I want to make money! He was mum.
Well, the outcome has a happy ending as 3 months later, the decision we received was in the client's favor and Medicaid was re-instated. Lucking we applied with "aid continuing", so our 90 plus client did not lose services during this ordeal.