Someone may want to put this in a different section of forum. How many have Medicare and or Medicaid ? Because lack of insurances here we only have Medicare. At some point many have to take both . I had always read and even knew of ways people would protect their monies from both of these in the event they had long term care. If you are cared for by either, they can make people sell their homes or demand other types of financial payback. In other words your care is not free, and whom ever is left once you are gone will be forced to pay up. There may be some differences depending on the state, but not much. Selling your home, or any anything else you had that brings money to the tablet to pay for you care. We only rent, and what little money we do have will probably be gone by the time we are dead. Still I am wondering now, if there is way to protect ourselves In -case there is any money or valued items the kids may be forced to sell. How are you handling this? Just wondering more after reading a article on this. Oh and also , when SS Medicare and Medicaid make errors to your account- for years and then they want the money back, This one alone really gets me.
I suppose the hard fact is, elder care is not free. Medicare/Medicaid go only so far and if a person requires to be moved to a full-time care facility then whatever assets they own can be taken to cover expenses over what Medicare does not pay. I don't believe that either Medicare/Medicaid was ever meant to entirely cover old-age long term care facilities (beyond medical expenses) for every American senior; how on earth could taxpayers afford that? I know that some people who own real estate or have some savings have transferred those to their children/beneficiaries to avoid having the assets seized. (And then trust that the beneficiaries don't screw them over.) In that case, the government goes back for some 5 years or so to verify the assets aren't being hidden so if this is the plan then it needs to be done far in advance of actually needing care. Elder full-time care is expensive and if a person has any assets then those should be used to help pay for their care. It's just one of those hard facts of life. ETA--as for how we are handling it; we aren't. I'm planning to stay in this house until they carry me out feet first. I have also threatened my son(s) that I will be moving in so get my room ready.
From what I read somewhere, the government doesn't usually go after the assets of someone who has been on Medicaid during the latter portion of their life, but they can and will if they have reason to believe that the assets are considerable. I read that modest homes are not usually seized, but they can be, and extravagance probably will be. I don't know how that works out in practice, but I do know that one of my neighbors was on Medicaid for the latter part of his life, yet his children inherited the house after he passed; yet when another neighbor died, her common-law partner had to move because the state took the house, which has sat empty and deteriorating ever since. Someone mows the yard, but no other maintenance is done on it.
I don't believe they go after assets for simply using Medicaid, but if a person has to be put in a full-time care facility then if they have any assets those can be seized. Here's more info... https://www.rossandshoalmire.com/faqs/medicaid-estate-recovery-program-affects-generations.cfm
@Beth Gallagher, from the link you provided, it sounds pretty much like what I said: They may or may not take your home or other assets, but they have the right to. I'm not suggesting that it's wrong. It doesn't make sense that the taxpayers should have to pay someone's medical expenses so that they can leave their assets to their children, yet I can also appreciate the hurt that could come with losing a family home because someone couldn't pay exorbitant medical expenses toward the end of their life. It would be nice if states could be counted on to do reasonable and ethical things, but that will likely differ from state to state, even though most or all of Medicaid funding comes from the federal government, and is distributed by the states.
I believe that medicaid is a state-run program, and it might be different from state to state. Years ago, my pastor in Idaho had a stroke and then developed alzheimers and ended up in the county run nursing home for the rest of his life. The county put a lien on their property, but his wife was allowed to live there until she passed away. At that point, the family had the option to either repay the loan, or let the county have the property. I think they had that option from the time our pastor died and was no longer at the facility; but I do not think that anyone in the family redeemed the property (I am not sure). My friend Evelyn is in a nursing home and she is on Alabama Medicaid; but she diodes not own a house or any other kind of property; and i do not think that they can charge her family for anything after she dies, either. Since Bobby and I are both low-income, we have had a medicare advantage plan ever since we started medicare, and it has worked great for both of us. Except for my old Ford pickup, we do not own anything, so there is not much for the state to take if one or both of us ended up in a nursing home.
I'm sure it's different in each state. This was a story on Yahoo today... https://www.yahoo.com/news/state-medicaid-offices-target-dead-201807283.html "... it was part of a routine process the federal government requires of every state: to recover money from the assets of dead people who, in their final years, relied on Medicaid, the taxpayer-funded health insurance for the poorest Americans. A person's home is typically exempt from qualifying for Medicaid. But it is subject to the estate recovery process for those who were over 55 and used Medicaid to pay for long-term care such as nursing home stays or in-home health care."
I do know that both my MIL and my aunt both had to sell their homes and give the money to the state--one in Pennsylvania and one in Iowa. My MIL even had long-term care insurance, but due to rising costs and such, it wasn't enough so she couldn't use it as it didn't cover the entire cost. She scrimped for years to pay the premiums on that insurance then found all that money was gone and she got nothing for it. Medicaid took everything she had. Same with my aunt. Both had auctions that sold all their belongings and the real estate as neither had enough liquid assets to pay for the nursing home. My MIL loved living in the nursing home, but my aunt hated it and couldn't wait to die. Sad stories both, but my aunt's is sadder. She could have gone a different route with home care, but was too stubborn to accept it.
I have Medicare A/B, a Supplement as well as my VA Medical. My wife has Medicare A/B and a Supplement. Due to her income, we have to pay some for meds and other things, if needed, from the VA. My Medicare A/B, the Supplement and, I think, my VA Medical paid all but $600 for both of my ER visits and hospital stays last year.