FIL is in rehab now. insurance runs out on Sept. 19th. Will be transferring to SNH on that date. Has about $14,000 in the bank which will last about 3 months. Nursing home costs about $9,500/month. When should I apply for medicaid, when he's down to $2,000 or sooner? He lives in South Carolina.
Your FIL can go into a facility on private pay but make sure this facility accepts Medicaid recipients and has open beds. Current residents of facilities get "first dibs" on Medicaid beds. Then any openings are offered to non-residents on waiting lists. Once he becomes a resident of a facility, the admins there can give guidance as to when to apply. It usually takes 3 months to know if one has qualified (after submitting an application). FYI many states have a 5-year "look-back" period on the financial part of the app.
My Moms application was pretty cut and dry. She only had about 20k, two months in LTC. Once she paid that, she was under the asset cap and her SS and pension were under the income cap, Her house was an exempt asset and up for sale. I started the application in April, she paid May and June, I confirmed Medicaid had everything they needed in June and Medicaid started July 1st.