Ask Mike - Disabled son on social security and father retiring

Dear Retiring,

You write that your adult son has a disability and that he lives with you. He receives Social Security from his father's retirement and also receives a small amount of SSI ($13.00/month). He is Medicaid eligible. He currently receives what you call HCS. (I am going to assume this means HCBS Waiver services.) He will become dual eligible for Medicare next year, as well. You want to know if he will still be eligible for HCS (HCBS Waiver services) after you retire in a little less than a year.

Thank you for writing. The HCS services are provided to your son because he meets the eligibility criteria. These criteria vary from state to state and program to program. The criteria have financial and functional components. Basically, to be eligible, a person has be very low income, have very few assets, and has to be disabled enough to qualify for nursing facility or intermediate care facility services. Examples of an Intermediate Care Facility include state hospitals or state schools.

In general, the fact of whether you are actively employed, or retired, has no bearing on your son's basic eligibility as outlined, above. Some states' programs, however, do consider whether family is available to provide the services informally. You should consult your state's Medicaid agency to gather the information necessary to clarify your specific situation.

You can find the contact information for your state's Medicaid agency as well as contact information for some other helpful agencies by going to the PAS Center Website. Go to Agencies Related to PAS and on the map that will comes up next, click on your state. A list of contacts will come up beginning with "Medicaid Agency" and ending with "State Independent Living Council and Centers for Independent Living". Click on "Medicaid Agency". Complete contact information will appear including phone numbers, mailing address and website address. If you need any assistance, try contacting the statewide independent living council, or the center for independent living closest to you.

Good luck. I hope your son gets to keep the services he needs to remain in the family home.

Yours for PAS,

Mike Oxford