Elder Care

[mjkacmom]

I really hope that the 'Medicaid' is error. Medicaid is for people with low incomes, not those with $750,000 in assets.

He will burn though his savings in about 5 years, and then he'll have nothing. He is 10+ years into his Alzheimer's diagnosis, he is pretty healthy physically (his disease has helped with this), he can't live alone.

 

[mjkacmom]

Insightful, albeit bone-chilling. In this country euthanasia has recently been legalized. I fear as your prognostications become more and more a reality, it will give "mandatory retirement" a whole new meaning...

I hope they legalize it in my state - it should be. Take religion out of government.

 

[tvguy]

I really hope that the 'Medicaid' is error. Medicaid is for people with low incomes, not those with $750,000 in assets.

Yes, you have to spend down all your assets before MEDICAID will step in.
We went through this with my wife's Grandparents. AFTER he retired, the Department Store he worked for went belly up, taking with it his pension. So they just had their social security to live on. When the decision had to be made to put them in a retirement home, their only asset was their house. We could prepay their funeral expenses but other than that the entire proceeds of the home sale.....all $15,000....had to go to pay for their care. It was a mess, because the pre-paid funeral plan my wife's Aunt bought ended up only paying HALF the actual expenses when the time came (DW and I paid the difference)......and the next door neighbors were buying the house and they balked at the appraised value of the house, thinking it was only worth $10,000, but they finally did agree to pay the full appraised price. This was in 1998, but as I have posted elsewhere, this is in a town where even today you can buy a house for under $20,000.

 

[diz8297]

That is truly unfortunate that homes that accept Medicaid are that poor in your state. My state is highly regulated. While there are homes that are not as nice, all homes accept Medicaid have to conform to state regulations which as I stated are very strict here. My mother is in the one that I work in. She receives excellent care. There home doesn't smell and is clean. I worked in our sister facility as well for 10 years and found it to be good as well. In between, I worked for a different company in another nursing home and found it to be less than desirable. My point: research research research. And yes, you do have to go through assets before Medicaid will pay. As well you should. Medicaid is for those who are indigent. I have had loved ones that had to go through hundreds of thousands of dollars to pay for their care. That is what their money was for. No one is guaranteed an inheritance.

 

[mjkacmom]

That is truly unfortunate that homes that accept Medicaid are that poor in your state. My state is highly regulated. While there are homes that are not as nice, all homes accept Medicaid have to conform to state regulations which as I stated are very strict here. My mother is in the one that I work in. She receives excellent care. There home doesn't smell and is clean. I worked in our sister facility as well for 10 years and found it to be good as well. In between, I worked for a different company in another nursing home and found it to be less than desirable. My point: research research research. And yes, you do have to go through assets before Medicaid will pay. As well you should. Medicaid is for those who are indigent. I have had loved ones that had to go through hundreds of thousands of dollars to pay for their care. That is what their money was for. No one is guaranteed an inheritance.

I don't know if the inheritance comment was for me, but I don't want or expect any. I just think it is so sad that my parents worked hard and were financially responsible their entire lives, working with their financial advisor and attorney, to make sure they would be comfortable in their senior years, only to not be able to have the life they looked forward too, or life at all.

 

[Melissakay1q]

I feel like a big part of the issue is lack of information. So many people believe that when a person ages and begins to receive Medicare, that insurance will pay indefinitely for assisted living or nursing homes. Too often, we plan vacations more thoroughly than we plan our retirement/future. It's a true shame when a couple ages and one is ill while the other is healthy. In order for the ill person to get the care they need, they'll run through all their savings quicker than a popsicle melting in July. What happens to the well spouse who was planning on living off the nest egg? Measly Social Security checks.

Please, please get long term care insurance early.

On top of that, get Power of Attorneys (medical and financial) while you're well, while you're young, while you're healthy. I've seen people struggle when grandma needs nursing home care and is now nonverbal and cannot sign legal paperwork to help people who love her to take care of her financial business or otherwise.

 

[diz8297]

No it wasn't personally directed at you, but I see people every day who resent the nursing homes expecting payment. It stinks that people get sick and need care, but if someone has the means, they need to go through those resources before the state should be expected to pay. It is the fault of the illness if blame needs to be placed, not the facility. Nursing homes have a non existent profit margin. Many operate in the red and most strive to provide good care. It is a very difficult industry. I hear people every day complaining that this money was for their grandchildren's college or children's inheritance. Well, it is sad that they need placement, but this is the harsh reality. I'm not cold, just tired of people expecting others to pay.

 

[diz8297]

Please, please get long term care insurance early.

And educate yourself about the policies! Frankly, if you don't have many assets and will be needing Medicaid sooner rather than later, don't waste your money on the premiums. I have residents that literally have paid thousands and still need Medicaid to pay the difference.

 

[diz8297]

From what I've seen in working in this field for 15 years: Spend your money. Take that trip. Buy those cars. You honestly don't know what the future holds.

 

[mjkacmom]

From what I've seen in working in this field for 15 years: Spend your money. Take that trip. Buy those cars. You honestly don't know what the future holds.

But, you don't know. My grandmother could pinch a penny, saved like crazy. She died at the age of 92, bad emphysema and osteoporosis. She lived at home, and was able to afford a full time live in for almost 20 years. Her quality of life was much better because she had enough money not to have to go in a home.

 

[diz8297]

I choose not to be a burden to my family. I fully figure that if I live that long and get ill (hopefully not I hope I pass in my late 70's) I'll go into a nursing home. I do not want my kids to have to orchestrate care, wondering if workers will show up, make sure I get meals, etc. They have their own lives to live. If they live in the area, I hope they will visit me. If I do live in a nursing home, I'll make the best of it. I cared for my mother's declining health in my home. She had 15 pretty healthy years and 5 where her mobility was severely challenged. I changed her commode, and worried about her safety. My husband and I gave her our bedroom because it put her on the main floor. I was more than willing to care for her. But her health declined markedly after one of my siblings died unexpectedly and she ended up in the nursing home I work at for rehab. She made the call to stay, and we went through a modest spenddown and now she is on Medicaid. Her mother spent hundreds of thousands in a nursing home several years prior.

 

[TLSnell1981]

Insightful, albeit bone-chilling. In this country euthanasia has recently been legalized. I fear as your prognostications become more and more a reality, it will give "mandatory retirement" a whole new meaning...

Very sad and scary.

 

[tvguy]

That is truly unfortunate that homes that accept Medicaid are that poor in your state. My state is highly regulated. While there are homes that are not as nice, all homes accept Medicaid have to conform to state regulations which as I stated are very strict here. My mother is in the one that I work in. She receives excellent care. There home doesn't smell and is clean. I worked in our sister facility as well for 10 years and found it to be good as well. In between, I worked for a different company in another nursing home and found it to be less than desirable. My point: research research research. And yes, you do have to go through assets before Medicaid will pay. As well you should. Medicaid is for those who are indigent. I have had loved ones that had to go through hundreds of thousands of dollars to pay for their care. That is what their money was for. No one is guaranteed an inheritance.

They all meet state minimum standards. But there is a huge difference between a $1200 a month Medicaid nursing home, a $4,000 a month Residential Care Facility of the Elderly, and an $8,000 a month full care nursing home.

 

[tvguy]

On top of that, get Power of Attorneys (medical and financial) while you're well, while you're young, while you're healthy. I've seen people struggle when grandma needs nursing home care and is now nonverbal and cannot sign legal paperwork to help people who love her to take care of her financial business or otherwise.

The financial power of attorney was the one thing I did not have. And the Long Term Insurance company insisted on one before they would begin paying the claims for my mom's long term care. Short answer: I was fortunate that my mom was still mentally capable enough to convince the attorney that she understood what the FPOA was, and was physically able to sign her name to it. Long answer: The Attorney said under California law the FPOA was not needed because this was an insurance policy. The issuing company insisted it was an investment plan. He did contact them and point this out, and they were unmoved. If my mom had not been able to sign the FPOA, we would have had to turn have the state Insurance Commissioner step in, and maybe go to court.

I can understand, however, the discomfort some folks may have with having a FPOA. We were caught off guard by the need for it as every other aspect of my mom's financial life was in either or trust, or set up so I could act on her behalf.