frequently asked questions

M.R.S. offers consulting and advocacy services for the planning and application process for Medi-Cal eligibility.

When a prospective family first contacts M.R.S. we provide a brief free assessment to determine whether our services are needed.

Once it is determined that MRS can help we schedule an hour long $95 telephone consultation. Our consultations are conducted over the phone which enables all family members, regardless of location, to participate and ask questions directly to the M.R.S. Consultant.

Once the consultation is scheduled MRS will send the family a preliminary questionnaire requesting the general information about the applicant, and spouse if applicable, that M.R.S. will need to counsel and advise the family as to the the Programs that may benefit the applicant as well as the specific “budget” for the programs that will be applied for. we provide all information and options to navigate their specific challenges and concerns.

The consultation starts off clarifying what the family provided on the preliminary questionnaire that allows Kathryn to be specific about issues and/or options so that the family has a clear picture of where the Applicant currently stands regarding potential eligibility for Medi-Cal. at the conclusion of the consultation our Consultant will open the stage for all questions that the family representatives may still have regarding the Applicants case.

You will also have the option of having M.R.S. act as your Authorized Representative through the application process. At the conclusion of the consultation, after seeing the specifics of your families’ case we will provide a quote for M.R.S.’s retainer agreement to act on your families’ behalf. M.R.S. will then provide a retainer agreement to the family, which “guarantees” that the Medi-Cal application will be approved.

M.R.S. clients are guided through a process that starts with being provided with a complete summary of what was discussed during the consultation, a document request list for the paper trail needed to be submitted to DHS for the application, and an assorted set of the formal application forms each with their own instructions of where to sign only. The M.R.S. staff will complete all of the application forms; our clients never have to physically go to Medi-Cal and will never have to speak with the Medi-Cal worker. Our clients are reminded that if they were to receive a call, they are to direct the DHS Worker directly to M.R.S.’s toll free number.

We know the System…and we get your family Results!!!

The whole Medi-Cal process is inherently stressful and to attempt to navigate its’ bureaucracy during what is already a highly emotional and stressful time becomes too much to manage alone.  Family care manager representatives are often overwhelmed with their own lives and then on top of monitoring the challenges of their loved one who are acclimating to a senior care home, the Care Manager is further tasked with the burdensome and daunting process of spending countless hours attempting to navigate the bureaucracy that is Medi-Cal? M.R.S. is here to help!

With over thirty years of experience in Medi-Cal we are confident enough to Guarantee our families an Approval!

When a prospective family first contacts M.R.S. we provide a brief free assessment to determine whether our services are needed.

Once it is determined that MRS’ services are appropriate we schedule an hour long $95 consultation. Our consultations are conducted over the phone which enables all family members to participate and ask questions directly to M.R.S. and provides the convenience of not having to travel to meet with us.

For only $95 our Consultants will evaluate your potential for Medi-Cal benefits and will answer all of the questions that cause apprehension and un-needed stress like; “Will I lose my home?” “Do I have too much money?” “Will the state try to recover from my Estate?” etc.

After completing our consultation, you will have an invaluable knowledge of your own specific situation. With that knowledge you will be able to enter the application process with the control and confidence that people often lack when proceeding blindly into the often-overwhelming application process for Medi-Cal eligibility.

You will know exactly where you stand and how to represent your family through the Medi-Cal Application Process. You will be empowered and not be in the dark when going through the Medi-Cal application process, so that you will not be easily intimidated by ticking clocks and over worked Eligibility Workers at the Department of Health Services.

You will also have the option of having M.R.S. act as your Authorized Representative through the application process. At the conclusion of the consultation, after seeing the specifics of your families’ case we will offer you a quote for M.R.S.’s retainer agreement to act on your families’ behalf.

Our prices for complete representation throughout the Medi-Cal application process is usually between Eighteen Hundred to Thirty-five hundred dollars depending on the complexity of the Families’ Estate and the Program that we are applying for.

M.R.S. clients are provided with a summary of the consultation, request list for the needed paper trail needed for the application, we complete the application forms, our clients never have to go to Medi-Cal, and will not have to speak with Medi-Cal, and in fact our clients are able to refer a Medi-Cal Eligibility Worker to M.R.S. toll free number if they ever were to call the family. With over thirty years of experience in Medi-Cal we are confident enough to Guarantee our families an Approval!

It seems that our most valuable commodity these days is time, so it is important to have an avenue to find information that can help to efficiently accomplish the tasks that we face. While Google is an amazing technological achievement, I have compassion for anyone whose only option is to search the web for information about “Medi-Cal” and then attempts to navigate these bureaucracies without expert assistance.

The myriad of misinformation available for these inherently complicated programs is staggering, and the attitude and fees of many of the attorneys and advocates are shameful.

For only $95 our Consultants will evaluate your potential for Medi-Cal benefits and will answer all of the questions that cause apprehension and un-needed stress like; “Will I lose my home?” “Do I have too much money?” “Will the state try to recover from my Estate?” etc.

After completing our consultation, you will have an invaluable knowledge of your own specific situation. With that knowledge you will be confident to proceed with the application process on your own. You can trust that the information we provided to you and your family is accurate which empowers a family with the confidence that is often lacking when proceeding blindly into the daunting application process for Medi-Cal eligibility.

Ultimately, after the Consultation you will know exactly where you stand and how to represent your family through the Medi-Cal Application Process. You will be empowered and not be in the dark when going through the application process, so that you will not be easily intimidated by ticking clocks and constant demands of an often over worked and utterly stressed out Eligibility Workers at the Department of Health Services.

After the consultation, a family will also have the option of retaining M.R.S. to act on their families’ behalf, acting as their Authorized Representative throughout the application process. At the conclusion of the consultation, after seeing the specifics of your families’ case, we will offer a quote for M.R.S.’s retainer agreement to act on the families’ behalf.

M.R.S. clients are then provided with a summary of the consultation, a request list for the needed documentary paper trail needed for the application, we complete all of the formal application forms, our clients never have to go to Medi-Cal, and will never have to speak with Medi-Cal. In fact, our clients are able to simply refer a Medi-Cal Eligibility Worker who calls to M.R.S.’s toll free number.

Once the application is completed and submitted, MRS will follow up with any documents requested by the Department of Health Services, and aggressively pursue the approval. As an advocate for your case, MRS will be the primary contact for the county so that you or your family are not bothered in a time when you have enough to worry about.

With over thirty years of experience in Medi-Cal we are confident enough in our expertise and knowledge, to Guarantee our families an Approval from Medi-Cal!

At the conclusion of M.R.S.’s consultation ($95 fee), a family is given the option of retaining M.R.S. to act on their families’ behalf, as their Authorized Representative throughout the application process.

After evaluating the specifics of your families’ case during the consultation, our Consultant will provide the family a retainer quote to hire M.R.S. to act on the families’ behalf.

You may ask yourself how it is that a person seeking Medi-Cal can afford to pay for M.R.S.’s services?

If the family’s case is uncomplicated, the family will certainly be empowered and capable after the consultation to complete the application on their own behalf should they so desire.

When the family’s case is more complex and advocacy is either required, or just desired, the total price of the M.R.S.’s advocacy is a fraction of the charges for one month’s stay at a convalescent facility.

Many people privately pay for the first month in Long Term Care because they are overwhelmed with the task of supporting the ill spouse’s acclimation into the new LTC Community.

Our job is to secure a successful result from Medi-Cal for that first month’s costs in the facility and thus, by retaining M.R.S., the family avoids paying out of their savings for Care Costs which ends up being a net gain for the family.

A fair hearing is the process of going before an Administrative Law Judge with what is called a 3100 Petion request to retain additional income for the At Home well Spouse.

The approval of a fair hearing allows the client to retain full control of all their money. In comparison a Medi-Cal annuity will lock all their money away, leaving them with a monthly payment and under no case can they receive more than the set amount. If the fair hearing is applicable to your specific situation, it can be a much better option than the “spend down” or “gifting” options that requires the client to disperse all their money as gifts to other people thereby losing control of their finances. The fair hearing is a method used to avoid leaving the At Home Spouse in a state of complete poverty.

If already on Medi-Cal and you are visiting this website, then you probably feel that your monthly share of cost needs to be re-evaluated, or you are concerned about a possible inheritance, etc., and you are now worried you are going to lose your eligibility for Medi-Cal benefits.

If your situation is similar to this and you are hesitant to report information to your eligibility worker out of concern that it will negatively affect eligibility then contact MRS and we will, at a $250 for a half hour, undergo a complete evaluation of your situation, present you with your options, and set you on a course that best represents your needs.

Due to the fact that everyone’s situation is different, off the cuff generalized answers create a liability for M.R.S., and because of that we will need to complete a thorough evaluation before we offer a current Medi-Cal beneficiary advice and guidance.

If you have been denied coverage in the past and you feel the denial to be unjustly rendered, then give us a call. MRS has been responsible for the reopening of numerous cases where we find error in a negative determination.

DHS Medi-Cal Eligibility Workers are over-worked and overwhelmed by the large number of caseloads that they are responsible for and thus make errors in the determination for benefits. These mistakes in return can cause inappropriate denials. It is under these circumstances that MRS would have the case reopened, and the client would be appropriately reimbursed.

Sometimes the entire county in which the client is seeking eligibility may be misinterpreting regulations. This was the case in a particular County where thousands of clients were denied erroneously for being over property (Medi-Cal no longer counts Asset amounts) because of their IRAs. So, Kathryn submitted an application for her client which was wrongfully denied due to Medi-Cal inappropriately counting the value of the clients’ IRA. The value in the IRA put Kathryn’s client over the allowed countable asset property limit.

The problem with DHS County interpretation here is that an IRA that is set up to take proper distributions, is an “Exempt Asset.” The County was out of compliance, not the client.

Kathryn then proceeded to call that Counties’ DHS Supervisor and informed them that regulations were being misinterpreted by their eligibility workers. Kathryn was told by the Supervisor that she was wrong in her interpretation of the regulation.

…and while DHS no longer has Asset level thresholds to meet, this is a general scenario of the types of issues we face when acting as the representative for the families we serve. We know the system and we get your family results.

Knowing that she was correct from her years of experience as a DHS Eligibility Worker, Kathryn then contacted the DHS State Property Analyst in Sacramento and alerted her of the Counties mistaken interpretation.

The County was corrected by the State Property Analyst and immediately closed their offices for a couple of days to retrain their eligibility workers as to the proper treatment of IRAs.

Due to the expertise of Kathryn Humphres, applicants in that County are no longer inappropriately denied Medi-Cal benefits due to their IRAs.

Group (1) (1)

Answer: NO.

Medi-Care will only pay for the first 100 days of hospitalization and rehabilitation as long as there is constant improvement. Once the patient is no longer improving the patient will be released either home or to a convalescent home under custodial care. At which time custodial cost are paid privately or paid by Medi-Cal.

Answer: No. DHS Recovery do not initially place a lien against the Estate. The Medi-Cal Recovery branch does however file “claims” for recovery against the estate of a deceased beneficiary of Long-Term Care Medi-Cal benefits.

However, Medi-Cal Recovery Branch cannot initiate a recovery claim until after the death of both spouses.

However, when the Primary Residence is funded into a Living Trust it is no longer subject to the Medi-Cal Recovery Branch.

Answer: Yes! A Revocable Living Trust is a necessary tool to bar Medi-Cal Recovery Branch from initiating a “claim” against the Estate of a deceased beneficiary who has received Medi-Cal Long Term Care Benefits.