[Mariel]

I just talked to a financial counselor on the phone, whom a realtor recommended, and one question I had (which she could not answer) is what happens to one's medical care if one is on Medicaid and needs to do an "extra" thing like to go Mayo for a p32 shot. The trip plus co-pay in February cost about $2000, and I might need to do it again, perhaps even two times a year,
although if I was sick enough to have to be in a Medicaid facility I might not be able to travel to Mayo anyway.

But the question arose. Now I'm doing fine financially, living in my own home, but if I went to an independent living and then needed assisted living, I would probably have to spend down my money (mostly pensions and Social Security) and a small bank account, very small. So would they let me have $4000 a year to go to Mayo, or would that treatment (p32 shot) be automatically cut off?

Medicare pays for my p32 ($18,000 a shot) but I have a $600 co-pay plus airplane and motel and taxi fees. I may not have to go back but the doctor at Mayo said most people do have to return when their platelets go up again.

This is not an MS condition, but I thought someone on this board would have some idea about the "ramifcations" of this. This condition is from Polycythemia Vera, but I also have MS and Porphyria dx's.

I have been thinking of moving into an "independent living", which I could afford, but if I have to pay for "assisted living", I will not have enough, and will have to spend down my resources to zero to even try to get Medicaid. I gather it is a struggle to qualify for Medicaid, but some independent living facilities do assist you with this and have some knowledge.

This is a grey area of medical expenses which is not well known, not even known at all by this financial counselor who came highly recommended, and she does not even know who else to call. I have found this something which can't be figured out, as I've tried to figure it out even before my husband died three and a half years ago, and we needed to consider moving to an independent living facility for him.
There is a huge financial differential between independent living costs and assisted living costs, which some may be aware of.

If anyone has thoughts, I welcome them.