Can't find Homecare that's supplemental for Medicare.. Suggestions needed!!

[thrusday]

My father in law was diagnosed with familial ALS in April of this year (3rd generation to suffer from this horrible disease) and he recently lost his ability to walk. He's now in a power wheelchair and they are going to be getting a hospital bed for him soon so he's more comfortable at home.
My mother in law is having a lot of trouble finding home care that's supplemental for medicare. She has a lot of chronic pain and is having so much trouble lifting my FIL and trying to take care of him herself. They live in Show Low AZ, away from family who can regularly help and really needs to find home care for her husband.
Can anyone point me in the right direction to find home care that is supplemental for Medicare?
She also needs help with prescriptions. They are paying over 3k out of pocket every time she goes to the pharmacy and they don't know how long they can afford to do this.
If you can help point me in the right direction to finding the right people to contact for help I would really appreciate it. Thanks so much.

 

[lgelb]

Hi, AZ, so sorry to hear that your in-laws are dealing with familial ALS. I am not quite sure what you mean by "home care that is supplemental for Medicare." Do they have a Medicare supplement? I suspect not, if they are paying 3k for rx.

Medicare's home health benefit either way unfortunately does not pay for basic care such as lifting. However, she should be able to get your FIL's doctor to write a prescription for an evaluation by a home health agency, who can send a PT and/or OT out to help her get and use equipment that will help. Do they have a Hoyer lift?

Medicare will also pay for a social worker to visit, to help her find suitable resources. She should also consider changing him to a Medicare Advantage plan or adding a supplement when she next can. The Medicare.gov site shows all the plans available in a given zip code, and she can input all the drugs they buy to see which plan is best.

If either of them has certain medical needs beyond ALS, one or both may also be eligible for some skilled nursing monitoring, but again this is not day-to-day care.

Do they have funds to pay for that kind of care at all? I am talking roughly minimum wage. If they can cut their other health care expenses, perhaps that is more doable, or they might be able to trade for room and board?

Best,
Laurie