Health Care in New York: Long-Term Help for Family Caregivers Exists. It’s Just Really, Really Complicated to Get it.

By Roshan Abraham

In July of 2017, Ken Carlino’s 86-year-old mother stopped eating. She spent three days in the hospital, and lost 10 pounds, which left the already frail elder even weaker.

Carlino and is siblings saw that their mother’s savings were scant and that if she paid off her credit card debt she’d be eligible for Medicaid. After some reluctance, she agreed to pay down the debt and apply for Medicaid that August. Carlino sent in a request for the expedited program on her behalf.

She received a letter of approval two months later in late October of 2017.

“That’s when I started getting paid,”says Carlino, a consultant and former city employee in his mid 50’s who effectively became a full-time caretaker to his mother.

For family members who need long-term caregiving, programs like the state’s Paid Family Leave will not suffice. “In general, long-term care needs come up after some kind of trigger or illness,”says Maria Hunter, Director of the Public Benefits Unit at New York Legal Assistance Group.

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Source: CITYLIMITS.org