Medicaid home care services are approved only after a Medicaid nurse assess the applicant. One major issue that we have seen, is that the nurse listens to the applicant and not the spouse who may also be the caregiver. One would think since the applicant sufferes from Alzheimer’s or demenia that the nurse would understand the illness and discuss the applicants medical issues with the cargeviver.
However, that is not so. A good example is as follows:
Applicant requires assistance with all of their activeties of daily living (ADLs). The spouse informs the nurse of all the task that she/he does. Applicant hears all of this and says “I don’t need any assistance.” Remarkably, the nurse considers the applicant’s input and denies home care services.
Recommendation. Cargivers must be aware of this issue and control the applicants from any discussion with the nurse assessing them.