Sanders: Need help? Just ask
Christine Rupp — Staff WriterFAIRMONT - The rising food and gas prices don't seem to affect seniors as much as they do young families, says Melody Sanders, but seniors often have more medical costs than the younger generations.
In those cases, it never hurts to ask for help.
Sanders, a financial assistance supervisor with Human Services of Faribault and Martin Counties, deals mainly with seniors, the blind and the disabled.
Help paying medical or long-term care costs is what seniors most often need when they come to Human Services, Sanders said. The most common assistance program for those seniors is Medicaid - not to be confused with Medicare.
Medicaid - often called Medical Assistance to avoid confusion - is available to all qualified seniors, even if they have access to Medicare.
To qualify for Medical Assistance, seniors must be 65 or older, and they also must meet the income and asset limits. Most people understand the income limits, Sanders said, and tend to meet those. The biggest barrier to seniors receiving assistance she has seen in her seven years with Human Services is that they have too many assets.
"It's not the income, it's the asset portion," she said.
When determining assets, Human Services does not count the house the senior applying for assistance lives in, but the office does look at things like additional property and stocks or bonds.
Assets counted for Medical Assistance include cash, savings certificates, bank accounts, non-homestead property and some motor vehicles.
With an asset limit for Medical Assistance of $10,000 per single applicant and $18,000 for couples applying together, Sanders said two certificates of deposit at $10,000 each can put a couple over the asset limit.
There might be solutions, though, if an applicant finds he is over the limit, so Sanders suggests calling Human Services for more information.
It might be possible, she said, to move a portion of an applicant's assets into an area that is not counted against them to determine eligibility for assistance.
For example, in the case of the couple with two $10,000 CDs, some of that money could be moved to burial expenses or life insurance, which are not counted for eligibility purposes. Other assets not counted for medical assistance include clothing, personal jewelry and household goods.
Before simply giving assets away, Sanders suggests seniors consult an attorney or call Human Services. There are penalties, she said, for giving away assets to qualify for long-term care services.
"You want to be careful as you move into those kind of areas," she said.
Human Services staff can help guide applicants and tell them what works and what doesn't, but they cannot give specific advice. Decisions must be made by the applicants themselves, Sanders said.
If a senior citizen is not sure whether he would qualify for medical assistance, Sanders suggests simply asking.
"It (help) is available in both centers (Martin and Faribault counties) by simply stopping in and telling us that you want to inquire about some financial assistance," she said.
Staff would start by having the senior fill out a "How Can We Help You?" form. The form would ask basic questions to help determine the need, but the senior would not have to apply at that time, Sanders said.
Human Services could then provide an application or information specific to the senior's needs.
"It helps just to sit down and talk," she said.
Many senior citizens are living on fixed incomes either through Social Security earnings or because they're trying to live off of assets with declining values, Sanders said.
According to June figures, there were 352 seniors in Martin County receiving help with medical costs, and 241 in Faribault County. More have been added since then, she said, and more seniors will need help as costs continue to rise.
