Caregiving got you feeling like you’re lost in a desert and every vision of help is just a mirage? We gotchu. Similar to 67-year old Madonna performing at Coachella, we're like a prayer answered. This week we’re unearthing the lesser-known Medicare programs that may help you better support the headliner in your life.

📦 Radio personality Nick Fox has built a community around the chaos of inheriting your parents' stuff. Millennial Inheritance is funny, familiar, and kinda cathartic.

🦦 A 100-year-old woman had one item on her bucket list: swim with otters. So she did it. 

🎙️ Every organization has an origin story. Gray Monster’s was recently shared with journalist Vanessa Grigoriadis on her podcast, So Your Parents Are Old. 

🎮 Police in Westlake, Ohio did a welfare check on a 91-year-old woman who wasn't answering calls. They found her in her bedroom, mid-game, trying to beat her high score.

You’ve heard of Parts A through D. Maybe you’ve even survived the Medigap vs. Medicare Advantage conversation without needing a lie-down. Served alongside the alphabet soup, there are Medicare programs and benefits most families never hear about. This is the highlight reel. 

If the goal is keeping costs down, Medicare Savings Programs (MSPs) are state led programs that can help cover Part B premiums and, in some cases, deductibles and copays. Extra Help, courtesy of the Social Security Administration, does the same for Part D drug costs. Both are income-based. And both are available whether your mom has Original Medicare or a Medicare Advantage plan.

If the goal is staying home, PACE, the Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly, is one of the most underknown options out there. It’s for adults 55+ who need nursing-home-level care but want to remain at home. If eligible, PACE can wrap medical care, transportation, therapies, meals, and support services into one coordinated program. But, it’s not available everywhere.

If dementia is part of the picture, GUIDE is a newer federal program through Original Medicare that helps cover dementia care coordination, caregiver education, and support. Important catch: it is not available to people on Medicare Advantage, which is a sizable group and a detail not to be overlooked. 

Also worth knowing: Medicare may cover Cognitive Assessment and Care Plan Services, which can help Mom get a formal evaluation and care plan when memory loss or confusion starts creeping in.

If you’re the one doing the work, Medicare may also cover Caregiver Training Services. That can include instruction on transfers, medication routines, wound care, and daily care tasks. Meaning Medicare may actually pay someone to teach you how to do the job you don’t remember applying to and had zero onboarding for.

If the diagnosis is complicated and the logistics are logistic-ing, care-management benefits like Chronic Care Management and Transitional Care Management can help with care plans, medication review, and provider coordination after a hospital discharge.

If the goal is getting support at home near the end of life, limited home health services may be covered if mom is homebound and needs part-time skilled care. Families often assume this means broad in-home help. It usually doesn’t. But when it applies, it can still be useful. Under the hospice benefit, Medicare may cover short-term inpatient respite care, which gives the primary caregiver a temporary break. If you’ve been white-knuckling it for months, it’s worth asking about. 

And one more thing: IRMAA. Not a benefit, more of a surprise surcharge. If your dad’s income is above a certain threshold, he may pay more for Parts B and D.

For free help figuring out what applies to your dad, you can call Medicare directly at 1-800-MEDICARE or contact your local SHIP office and connect with a counselor.

You can’t fail this one. Answers and another quiz drop next week.

You said it. This week’s submissions.

"Juggling my mom's care with a stressful work week felt like more than I could handle."

"The kindness of a bank employee when I was trying to do something for my mom."

"I feel like caregiving is killing my relationship with my mom. Anger, guilt, resentment, ugh."

"Dad's face lit up when his grandchild came into the room for a visit."

"How did I not know this was coming?"