How do I get Medicare to talk with me about my parent?
Medicare protects your parent's privacy, so it shares personal health information with you only if your parent says it's OK. There are two ways:
- On the phone. Your parent can give verbal permission while you are both on the call with 1-800-MEDICARE (1-800-633-4227, TTY 1-877-486-2048).
- In writing. Your parent can sign the Authorization to Disclose Personal Health Information form (CMS-10106), available in English and Spanish from Medicare's contact page. Once Medicare processes it, you can call on your parent's behalf without them on the line.
This form only lets Medicare share information with you. It does not make you your parent's representative for appeals, and it does not let you make health care or money decisions. If your parent has a Medicare Advantage or Part D plan, call Member Services on the plan card and ask what the plan needs before it will talk with you.
How can I handle an appeal or claim for my parent?
To file an appeal, a claim or a complaint for your parent, your parent should name you on Medicare's Appointment of Representative form, CMS-1696. As the appointed representative, you can make requests and receive notices on your parent's behalf. Keep a copy, and send one with each appeal.
If a hospital says your parent is ready to go home and you disagree, or skilled nursing or home health care is ending too soon, call Ohio's Medicare quality improvement organization, Commence Health (formerly Livanta), at 1-888-524-9900 (TTY 711) right away. See Medicare appeals in Ohio.
Who can manage my parent's Social Security money?
If your parent can no longer manage Social Security or SSI benefits, Social Security can appoint a representative payee, a person or organization that receives the benefits and uses them for your parent's needs.
- A power of attorney isn't enough. Social Security says a power of attorney or a joint bank account does not give you authority to manage someone else's benefits.
- How to apply. Contact Social Security. You fill out Form SSA-11 and show proof of identity, usually in an interview at a local office. Find the nearest Ohio office with the Social Security office locator.
- Your duties. A payee must use the money for your parent's current needs, save what isn't needed, keep records and report to Social Security when asked.
- Plan ahead. With Advance Designation, your parent can name up to three people Social Security should consider as payee if one is ever needed.
Social Security: 1-800-772-1213 (TTY 1-800-325-0778).
How do Ohio advance directives work?
Ohio has two main health care documents. Many people sign both.
| Health care power of attorney | Living will (declaration) | |
|---|---|---|
| Ohio law | ORC 1337.11 to 1337.17 | ORC 2133.01 to 2133.15 |
| What it does | Names an agent ("attorney in fact") to make health care decisions when the attending physician determines your parent can no longer make them | States whether to use or withhold life-sustaining treatment if your parent is terminally ill or permanently unconscious |
| Who can sign | An adult of sound mind, acting voluntarily | An adult of sound mind, acting voluntarily |
| How it's signed | Signed and dated at the end, then either witnessed by two eligible adults or acknowledged before a notary public | |
Who can't be a witness. For both documents, witnesses can't be related to your parent by blood, marriage or adoption, and can't be your parent's attending physician or the administrator of a nursing home where your parent receives care. For a health care power of attorney, the agent and alternate agent can't be witnesses either.
Who can't be the agent. Your parent's attending physician and the administrator of a nursing home caring for them can't serve. Employees of the physician or of a facility treating your parent can't serve unless they're related to your parent or in the same religious order.
What the agent can do. If the document allows it, the agent can get your parent's health information right away, even before your parent loses capacity. The agent can't refuse or withdraw life-sustaining treatment unless your parent is terminally ill or permanently unconscious and Ohio's other conditions are met, and generally can't refuse comfort care. A health care power of attorney doesn't expire unless it states an end date.
Tube feeding. For a living will to allow withholding nutrition and hydration when your parent is permanently unconscious, Ohio requires a statement in capital letters or other conspicuous type, initialed or signed by your parent (ORC 2133.02).
Money matters are separate. A financial power of attorney falls under Ohio's Uniform Power of Attorney Act (ORC 1337.21 to 1337.64), which includes a statutory form in ORC 1337.60. Ohio's do-not-resuscitate (DNR) rules are in ORC 2133.21 to 2133.26. Give copies of every document to your parent's doctors and hospital, and keep one in your caregiver folder. For complex situations, such as a possible guardianship, talk with an Ohio attorney.
Where can an Ohio caregiver find help and a break?
Area agencies on aging
Ohio's 12 area agencies on aging connect older adults and caregivers with local services. Call 1-866-243-5678 to reach the agency for your community. The Ohio Department of Aging's main line is 1-800-266-4346.
Family Caregiver Support Program
Funded by the Older Americans Act and run locally by the area agencies, it serves adults caring for someone 60 or older or someone of any age with Alzheimer's disease or a related disorder. Services can include information, counseling, support groups, training and respite care.
PASSPORT and other waivers
If your parent qualifies for Ohio Medicaid and needs a nursing-home level of care, PASSPORT (60 and older) or the MyCare Ohio Waiver can provide personal care, homemaker help, adult day services and out-of-home respite. Through structured family caregiving (OAC 5160-44-33), a caregiver who lives with your parent can provide daily care through an approved agency.
PACE
For people 55 and older who need a nursing-home level of care, PACE combines medical care and long-term services. In Ohio it serves parts of Cuyahoga, Lorain, Summit, Franklin, Hamilton, Ashtabula, Trumbull, Mahoning and Montgomery counties, with Lucas County planned for 2027.
If your parent lives in a nursing home or assisted living and you have concerns about care, call Ohio's State Long-Term Care Ombudsman at 1-800-282-1206.
What can I do day to day?
- Set up a Medicare.gov account with your parent. You can both see Original Medicare claims soon after they're processed.
- Review statements every month. Look for services or supplies your parent didn't get, and report them to Ohio's Senior Medicare Patrol at 1-800-293-4767. See Medicare fraud in Ohio.
- Check for help with costs. See Medicare Savings Programs in Ohio, Extra Help and Ohio Medicaid and Medicare.
- Mark Open Enrollment on the calendar. From October 15 to December 7, check whether your parent's doctors and drugs are still covered for next year. If your parent's plan is ending, see Ohio plans ending in 2027.
- Keep a caregiver folder. Include your parent's Medicare and plan cards, drug list, doctors, signed permission forms and advance directives.
Help reviewing your parent's plan
A licensed insurance agent who works with Benefits Life can join a call with you and your parent and explain Medicare Advantage, Medigap and Part D plans from the companies they work with, at no cost to you. Your parent decides; you can help ask the questions. You can request a call from a licensed insurance agent, or see plans for your parent's ZIP code.
Sources
- Medicare.gov — Contact Medicare (Authorization to Disclose Personal Health Information, CMS-10106)
- CMS — Form CMS-1696, Appointment of Representative
- CMS — Beneficiary and Family Centered Care Quality Improvement Organizations
- Social Security — Frequently asked questions for representative payees
- Ohio Revised Code — Section 1337.12, Durable power of attorney for health care
- Ohio Revised Code — Section 1337.13, Authority of attorney in fact
- Ohio Revised Code — Section 2133.02, Declaration (living will)
- Ohio Revised Code — Section 1337.60, Statutory form power of attorney
- Administration for Community Living — National Family Caregiver Support Program
- Ohio Department of Aging — Find services
- Ohio Administrative Code — Rule 5160-44-33, Structured family caregiving
- Ohio Department of Aging — Find a local PACE center
- Pro Seniors — Ohio Senior Medicare Patrol
Frequently asked questions
How do I get permission to talk to Medicare for my mother or father?
Your parent can give verbal permission while you are both on the phone with 1-800-MEDICARE, or can sign Medicare's Authorization to Disclose Personal Health Information form (CMS-10106), which comes in English and Spanish. The form lets Medicare share your parent's information with you; it does not let you make decisions for them.
Can I file a Medicare appeal for my parent?
Yes, if your parent names you as their representative on Medicare's Appointment of Representative form, CMS-1696. For hospital discharge and other fast appeals in Ohio, the quality improvement organization is Commence Health (formerly Livanta), 1-888-524-9900 (TTY 711).
Who can witness an Ohio health care power of attorney?
Two adults who are not related to your parent by blood, marriage or adoption, are not named as the agent or alternate agent, and are not your parent's attending physician or the administrator of a nursing home where your parent gets care. Instead of witnesses, your parent can sign before a notary public.
Does a power of attorney let me manage my parent's Social Security?
No. Social Security says a power of attorney or a joint bank account does not give you authority to manage someone's benefits. Social Security must appoint you as representative payee, usually after an interview using Form SSA-11.
Where can an Ohio caregiver get a break?
Ohio's area agencies on aging run the National Family Caregiver Support Program, which can include respite care, training and support groups for people caring for someone 60 or older or someone with Alzheimer's disease or a related disorder. Call 1-866-243-5678 to reach your local agency.
Medicare in your Ohio county
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