Helping a parent here from out of state

You're in Denver or Chicago. Mom's in Encinitas. Most of helping from far away is paperwork that lets people talk to you, set up before the hard call comes. Here it is, from the official sources, and the local person for everything you can't do by phone.

1. Let Medicare talk to you. Medicare's form CMS-10106, "Authorization to Disclose Personal Health Information," lets your parent name you so 1-800-MEDICARE can discuss their Medicare with you. The form (CMS.gov).
2. Let the doctor's office talk to you. Ask each office for its own release form (what it has to say), and keep a list of every doctor, phone number and medication. Medicare doctors near them · specialists.
3. Add a trusted contact on their brokerage account. FINRA calls it "like an emergency contact," a person the firm can contact in limited circumstances, and it "does not give that person any authority to learn about your account balance, execute trades or engage in any other transactions." FINRA.
4. Know which Medicare they have. Original Medicare or a Medicare Advantage plan changes which doctors and hospitals they can use. How to tell, and what it means here · every 2027 plan in San Diego County. For advice on plans, the free official counselors are HICAP.
5. Save the County's number: Aging & Independence Services, 800-339-4661. Who to call for what.
6. Read the hospital checklist before you need it: observation vs inpatient, the 3-day rule and the fast appeal.

Powers of attorney and advance directives are legal documents: an attorney's job, not PJ's.

Paid Family Leave can pay part of your wages while you care for a parent. Thinking about moving them closer, or here? Moving a parent to North County.

• Parent Check-In Plan, $25 a month: one check-in visit and one errand a month, and a text to you after each one: how they seemed, what was done, what's coming.
• Errands, $25 a stop: the pharmacy pickup, the walker from the supplier, the grocery fill-in.
• Family Assist, $30 an hour: the calls, the forms, the portals and the waiting on hold.

PJ is based in Solana Beach and covers Solana Beach, Del Mar, Cardiff and Encinitas in person. No rides, no personal care (bathing, dressing, medications: that's licensed agencies), no insurance advice, and no referral fees from anyone. Text PJ

Need a human?

This page is built every morning from public data by SideGuy, run by PJ, a local in Solana Beach. If something looks off, or you want a hand with your plans, text PJ at 858-461-8054. A real person answers.

Local help, free to read: make your fix plan · senior benefits checkup · lower your SDG&E bill · Medicare Extra Help · every 2027 Medicare plan · is my medication recalled? · the next 90 days. Plans start as low as $25. Your parent lives here and you don't? The Parent Check-In Plan, $25 a month.