[KsGal]

I don't know if I can answer all your questions, but I can tell you what has happened to me. Barb won't qualify for social security disability because of her work history. I believe she would qualify for SSDI, but the payment is minimal, I believe 720 a month. You apply for it at the social security office the same as applying for disability. When you are approved for SSDI, you are automatically eligible for Medicaid.
I applied for disability, but it takes five months for your disability payments to start coming (something I was not aware of when I quit my job!), so right now I receive SSDI. Even with a terminal diagnosis, apparently the five month waiting period is to make sure you are truly disabled. Ridiculous!
When my disability payments kick in, I will receive Medicaid for two years, and then they transition you over to Medicare. Medicaid pays pretty much 100 percent of everything. Very minimal, if any, cost for anything. In two years, when Medicare kicks in, it covers a flat 80 percent, and I am responsible for the other 20. Not sure what will happen when/if I get to that point.
Im not married, so I am not certain how the income is evaluated if you are married, so that is something you would have to call someone about or google search. I do know in my situation to receive SSDI there are some guidelines like I can't have more than 2000 dollars in the bank, etc.