If your mother's rehab stay ends and she still needs help with daily activities beyond what home care can safely provide, the rehab facility's social worker can help evaluate options ranging from an adult care home (assisted living) to continued skilled nursing on a long-term basis. If she is running low on funds, ask the facility's social worker about applying for long-term-care Medicaid through Wake County DSS and, if she needs nursing-facility-level care but wants to try staying home instead, ask about the CAP/DA Medicaid waiver. Start these conversations early in the rehab stay rather than waiting for discharge day, since Medicaid applications take time to process.
How families here handle this
A fall requiring rehab is one of the most common entry points into the long-term care system for Triangle seniors, and Apex-area families often discover mid-rehab-stay that the person's prior independence at home was more fragile than anyone realized. North Carolina's Medicaid nursing facility program has strict financial limits — a $2,000 asset limit for a single applicant and an income cap tied to 300% of the SSI federal benefit rate — so families with even modest savings need to understand spend-down rules before assuming private pay is the only option. The CAP/DA waiver is the alternative path for those who qualify for nursing-facility-level care but can be safely supported at home with services like personal care aides, home modifications, and case management, and applying through Wake County DSS while still in rehab avoids a dangerous coverage gap at discharge.
Related questions
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