My mother is 69, an LPN, was hospitalized with Stage 4 cancer. Will she qualify for any unemployment?

Q) My mother is 69, an LPN, working as an in-home care nurse. Was hospitalized for four months and now terminal with Stage 4 cancer. She was not fired by her employ and the employer has been really nice. Their policy is that after 6 months her employment status will change to “inactive.” Will that disqualify her from applying or receiving any type of assistance? Will she qualify for any unemployment?
A) Your mother will not qualify for unemployment insurance benefits as she would need to be willing and able to find work. She will not qualify for Short Term Disability as most plan benefits are paid for the duration of the disability up to the age of 65. Your mom may look at applying for Social Security Retirement benefits if she has not yet done so. According to the Social Security administration – the earliest a person can start receiving Social Security retirement benefits will remain age 62.

If you start receiving retirement benefits at:

age 62, you will get 75 percent of the monthly benefit because you will be getting benefits for an additional 48 months.
age 65, you will get 93.3 percent of the monthly benefit because you will be getting benefits for an additional 12 months.