Yes, he can have both, my son does, its a matter of how much money they receive for disability. Disability is ssdi, if disability is below the poverty level, your brother would also receive ssi money. Whatever account receives the money will show them as two different deposits each month. If your brother receives ssi, he is usually eligible for Medicaid (it varies from state to state). Medicaid is secondary to Medicare, there are a couple of stages of Medicaid, one of the stages will pay for his Medicare premiums and co-pays.
Another factor that can come into play is if your parents are still supplementing your brotherās apartment rent. Social Security will count that in their calculations and it could be making your brother ineligible for ssi and Medicaid. There are strict rules about these things.
He gets disability and medicare. I will have to investigate whether he can get medicaid also.
Thank you for the information.
You are welcome, financial decisions are an important part of the planning - particularly as our family members -and their caregivers - age.
It sounds like your brother isnāt in either the right medicine for him or not a high enough dosage. No atypical antipsychotics worked for my son and Risperdal by injection made him worse as did many others or just didnāt help at all. Clozapine has worked for him but they titrated it very slowly and it took a year to a year and a half to get him to a pretty good point. Heās able to socialize with inky a little delusional talk. Only has symptoms break through with stress or too much nicotine or caffeine. Caffeine affects him terribly so I give him only decaf and no cola. It takes a while for stabilization but itās possible. Your brother could be doing much better than he is with those toilet habits. Best to you both.
Maybe try your local county behavioral health services and ask them about housing options that are available or programs. Also if there are any mental health hospitals near you try reaching out to them for help with housing programs.
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Hi j9sit!
My mother is 63, my sister and I have been in charge of her care a bit over a year. She lives off of money left to her by her parents. She is on medicare because of disability and we are applying for medicaid. She has in home care coming about 15 hrs/wk.
From what i have read, poor hygiene is a common symptom of schizophrenia. Our Mother will go indefinitely without a shower - but luckily she has a team of people, urging her all the time to do it. And at the same time, she has no tolerance for things that are āunsanitaryā. She thought her garbage was too gross to take to the street so she was letting it pile up and then call the fire department to do it (sigh)
For now what we are doing works. I have looked into guardianship but I have been advised against it by 3 lawyers. Guardianship makes us legally responsible for them. So when they go out and do something crazy, we would get called into court. I have been advised to get several powers of attorney, including medical. She has to agree to this thoughā¦ working on it 
When she canāt be maintained at home, we will put her in a home. I have done some calling and the places that will take her are the places that do āmemory careā for alzheimers and dementia, etc. She would be the youngest and most active person thereā¦ I worry sheāll really hate it, and get herself kicked outā¦
So I donāt have advice, just saying that you are not alone. I often marvel at how much work it is to manage one humanās life. Keep on keeping on.
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Hi MagicDaughter,
Thanks for the information about Guardianship. When my mom dies or maybe sooner than that, I will have to put my brother somewhere. The only reason he is able to live in an apartment is because I have my momās aide go there once a week to clean up.
If no one went there it would be unlivable. Especially relating to the toilet issues.
I am 57 and my brother is 55, so it sounds like your mom is within our age group.
When you eventually put your mom in a home do you think that medicaid will cover the cost? Is the money she has from her parents in her name?
I am also worried that my brother will refuse to go anywhere. He has lived in an apartment that my parents subsidize ( Disability covers some of the rent) for about 27 years. He comes to my moms house for meals every day. It would not be feasible for me to hire someone to clean up and provide him with food, and wash his clothes, etc .
How was it growing up with a schizophrenic mom? I assume she was mostly on medication?
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