ALTCS & Department of Developmental Disabilities

Founder & CEO – Stronghold Financial
Medicaid/ALTCS Planning

After a thriving executive career in media and technology, Jon was yearning to start a business which made social responsibility its main focus. Stronghold was formed in 2017. Jon loves interacting with his clients and the many good-hearted people in the long-term care industry.

If you have a child with autism who needs long term care, you’ve come to the right place. My firm, Stronghold Financial (www.strongholdfin.com), helps people get on the Medicaid program.

Why I do what I do…

My Grandmother “Mimi” had just put Grandad in a nursing home. He had a variety of physical and cognitive conditions and needed 24-hour medical care. As far as nursing homes go, the one she chose was really nice. Mimi wanted Grandad to get the best care and live in a place that came as close as possible to feeling like home. And it did. Mimi visited Grandad in his nursing home almost every day. The cost was a steep $10,000 a month but Mimi felt confident she made the right decision putting him in such a nice place. Between the two of them, they had a few thousand dollars a month in income, but because she and Grandad had scrimped and saved all their life, they had a few hundred thousand dollars in their life savings. Mimi felt like she could afford to make Grandad comfortable in his last days.

Two and a half years later, he was still alive. And now the cost had risen to $11,000 a month. All-in Mimi had spent more than $312,000 on Grandad’s care and she was going broke. It was stressing her out and that was affecting her health. It was heartbreaking. Mimi would say things like, “what if Grandad lives too long and I can’t afford to pay for his care OR mine?”. Grandad and Mimi had just celebrated their 63rd wedding anniversary when Grandad passed away. Mimi had spent down over $350,000 on Grandad’s care and had very little money left for herself. All the stress and loss had caused her heart problems to get worse. A couple years later, she ended up in the hospital and eventually skilled nursing herself. Medicare covered her for a little while, but eventually they cut her off and she was forced to pay out of pocket with what little money she had left. The family rallied around Mimi, and she died a few years after Grandad did. It was
so sad.

A Better Way

Watching all this, I thought, “How are people expected to spend down all their money and go bankrupt paying for long-term care? Why is long-term care so expensive? There HAS to be a better way”. Turns out there is a better way, Mimi just didn’t know about it. The better way is Medicaid long-term care benefits (ALTCS here in Arizona). Each year tens of thousands of elderly and developmentally disabled (e.g. autistic) people find their way to Medicaid to pay for assisted living, skilled nursing and memory care. It’s a total lifesaver.

There’s a downside to Medicaid though. Medicaid is a government program. That means it’s hard to understand, complicated to navigate, and confusing to work through. To be honest, Medicaid doesn’t make it easy to get on the program. If you tried to get Medicaid on your own, it could take 6-12 months before you got it right, assuming you ever did. And it’s darn near a full-time job and most people throw up their hands and give up. I’m assuming you have a full-time job already – or at least have a life outside of helping your child get on Medicaid. However, when done properly, getting on Medicaid can be a straight-forward process, if you know what you’re doing. Imagine how much money you will save once Medicaid starts providing financial assistance. More importantly, imagine your child getting the care they need for the rest of their life. And then imagine your stress level being significantly reduced because you have Stronghold to handle it for you. You can get your life back.

Value Proposition

Below are the general expenses vs the value upon acceptance into ALTCS. Please note that every circumstance is unique, and the commentary below is a best effort guide to provide clarity to the Sounds of Autism members.

 Our fees – $4,000 one time fixed

When the ALTCS applicant is a child, they are generally going to be financially eligible for the ALTCS program as they have not yet accumulated assets or income to put them over the eligibility limits. As such, our fee will generally be $4,000 to handle the ALTCS application from start to finish. On a rare occasion, we may need to charge more than that for extenuating circumstances. We will always be transparent about our fee before a client hires us.

 Value Received

ALTCS will the cover the cost of your child’s long-term care. This includes up to 40 hours per week of in-home care (sometimes more), or placement at a specialized assisted living community with the skillset to care for your child. The cost out of pocket for these services can be several to many thousands of dollars per month. Our fee is designed to cost as much or less than one month’s worth of care. This means our fee will pay for itself by the end of the second month of care.