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Or use the same rules the rich use to protect what they have.
The middle class even more so than the wealthy need to do that.
If Trump, Gates and Buffet don't protect their money from Medicaid recovery, their heirs will still have plenty.
If a person who only has a paid off home and a 500K 401k, or a 200K IRA doesn't protect that his/her heirs won't have any second generation inheritance.
That's what helps generations do better than the one before....inheritance. You think Donald Trump started out with nothing? Gates built his wealth before his parents died and I bet he (or his kids) STILL inherited something. Even a 10 or 20K inheritance can help get the kids or grandkids started with a leg up.
It is when if you are under the income limit the government will pay the necessary cost to help you go home. This is to save cost.
BUT if you are over the income, even by a few dollars per month but qualify for medicaid the government will pay the costs to stay in the nursing home but won't cover any cost to go home. That's not doing all they can to save money.
Not really. If she had qualified all she would have gotten was 20 hours a week. That works out to roughly 4 hours a day(as odds are the home health aid won't be working weekends). She is an fall risk 24/7 and going home may not be possible for most people.
My family took care of some relatives with the assistance of medicaid and medicare but ah in both cases they never went back home and and could never have. To be blunt it is going to take more than an little home renovation or home health aid time. In our case we paided for additional time privately, and we took care of them mostly by ourselves. If she is an fall risk then someone needs to be available 24/7 for assistance. She probably does need to be in assisted living or an nursing home.
Not really. If she had qualified all she would have gotten was 20 hours a week. That works out to roughly 4 hours a day(as odds are the home health aid won't be working weekends). She is an fall risk 24/7 and going home may not be possible for most people.
20 hours is better than nothing! And I'll remind you... people who either don't work, don't work enough or are not educated enough to be in higher paying jobs contribute less to SS putting them below the income line for help. The middle class who educated themselves, worked hard, climbed the income ladder, paid their way in life and contributed more to SS putting themselves "above" the income line get no help.
So the title of this thread stands. Pay your way in life and there is no help for you if you need it later in life when you can no longer work. Don't pay your way and they'll help you from cradle to grave. I'm tired of all the moaning from able bodied people who won't do what it takes, who cry for more subsidies when the government helps you cradle to grave, yet the middle class who pays their own bills and the poor's bills is screwed when they need help. I'm middle class, and I've heard people talking about this throughout my life.
Just like Trump said..."What? because I'm saying what people are thinking?"
An elderly woman who paid her way but now needs help is denied. They tell us that we care for the poor and "people in need" but that's proven to be a farce.
I'm surprised at some of these replies. I shouldn't be, it's City Data, but I am, nonetheless.
I see people who have always preached about "helping" others suddenly turn their backs on people. What happened to, "especially for the elderly and disabled"? What happened to that? Because an elderly is the mother of someone who has different political views than you, suddenly "who cares" about them? ARE WE FRICKEN SERIOUS HERE PEOPLE?
Mostly what I couldn't shake is that this is just a HINT at what is coming. All of these handouts have to be paid for by somebody, and when you screw over the middle class, exactly who do you think is going to continue to pay for the poor that some can't get enough of? The middle class is the class that has been paying the most.
All of you who don't give two flying rat's tails about the middle class are going to see the middle class become the poor class, and then who is going to pay for all the "give aways of the month" from the government? I sure as hell hope that people on this forum do realize that: "It came from the government" means, "It came from other people in this country". If you're 12, you have an excuse, if you're an adult, tsk please.
20 hours is better than nothing! And I'll remind you... people who either don't work, don't work enough or are not educated enough to be in higher paying jobs contribute less to SS putting them below the income line for help. The middle class who educated themselves, worked hard, climbed the income ladder, paid their way in life and contributed more to SS putting themselves "above" the income line get no help.
No, not that. Medicaid by definition is built to kick in when all is exhausted. It is what keeps people from dumping elderly right on the street because they can not afford to care for them. It is an safety net for when you fall, not something meant to keep things they way they are, but to keep it from becoming an disaster.
They don't count the house, but they do count SS and Pensions. An person could sell the house and pay for nursing home care for an while. The person's medical bills(and others) may simply be too high for them to stay put. Elderly people lose their houses(or places to stay) all the time wither middle class or poor. They may be forced to move from an building they are renting due to high rent into an more subsidized form of renting(not all landlords accept section 8 and there are programs that provide housing to the elderly at lower than market rates). Also some buildings wither rented or owned are just not well set up for an sick person(i.e. Bedrooms, bathrooms upstairs can be problems and chair lifts don't on all staircases nor can you count for the person to be able to safely get themselves in an out of it.) Also SS can pay for care(which is how my family afforded to be able to pay for the private care from time to time as well as medications(back then medicare didn't cover as much) and things like special foods and clothing).
And yes, my family did have our lives turned upside down from taking care of them. With my great grandmother my family held all holidays over our place because we could not go to elsewhere. My grandmother slept in the same room and took care of her for the many hours that medicaid did not cover. She was up at 12 and 2 a.m. changing the bed, moving her to the commode and so on. Caring for a person is an lot of work and while that 20 hours a week is helpful, it likely is not enough for what you want.
What is sounds like you want is for her to go back home to an house that is just modified for her, but if she is an fall risk then modifications are not enough. Someone need to be with her, period. It could be family. It could be nursing home staff, but last thing you want is for her to wind up on the floor at 2a.m.(i.e. got up to use the washroom) and no one finds out until 6 or 7p.m.(after work).
Anyway what my Grandma did with those hours was get an break, go to prayer meetings and what not. She was retired so she didn't have to go to work, but when people have to go to work the elderly wind up in an home and yes poor people do work. The caregiver who latter took care of my grandma had to put her mom in an nursing home because she had to work an low wage job taking care of other people's sick elderly relatives because she could not afford to stay at home.
If one has a house (an asset) when one becomes sick, it is only reasonable to expect said person to liquidate said asset in order to use the funds to pay for their care.
Mahrie.
Being a lifelong renter might be advantageous in the long run.
Selling a house or not selling a house ...either way you might have money saved from being a renter.... or you'll have money from a home sale. Does it matter?
I do agree that the Middle Class and the Working Class seem to pick up the tab for everything. The Poor receive benefits and the Rich and Corporations have loops holes and tax attorneys that make sure they little or no taxes.
It is ridiculous to be all sour about the poor though....they really have nothing....and it is not very Christian either.
I do deeply resent the fact that the richest people in this country pay little or no taxes though... and the financial burden falls on the middle class or back bone of America.
Even though I know a few people take advantage of the government programs for the poor...they are still the poor - at least you don't live in a housing project, or starve on a regular basis, at least you have money to pay your utility bills and know where your next meal is coming from.....from what I can tell people on food stamps get very little, and they wouldn't have a hope of paying for the medical bills.
You can hope that you receive your parents home as a sort of inheritance...but that is never guaranteed....because as Murphy's Law tells us things like this happen.
Don't have a sense of entitlement yourself...somebody has to pay the cost if you don't have long term care insurance...you can rest with a clear conscience this way if they have to go into a nursing home, that you did what you could.
I do agree that the Middle Class and the Working Class seem to pick up the tab for everything. The Poor receive benefits and the Rich and Corporations have loops holes and tax attorneys that make sure they little or no taxes.
It is ridiculous to be all sour about the poor though....they really have nothing....and it is not very Christian either.
I do deeply resent the fact that the richest people in this country pay little or no taxes though... and the financial burden falls on the middle class or back bone of America.
Even though I know a few people take advantage of the government programs for the poor...they are still the poor - at least you don't live in a housing project, or starve on a regular basis, at least you have money to pay your utility bills and know where your next meal is coming from.....from what I can tell people on food stamps get very little, and they wouldn't have a hope of paying for the medical bills.
You can hope that you receive your parents home as a sort of inheritance...but that is never guaranteed....because as Murphy's Law tells us things like this happen.
Don't have a sense of entitlement yourself...somebody has to pay the cost if you don't have long term care insurance...you can rest with a clear conscience this way if they have to go into a nursing home, that you did what you could.
I knew I didn't want to be poor so I.... got a job, went to community college at the same time, bought a ugly car for $300 (a lot in those days) and didn't do drugs. I didn't have some pipe dream that I've have a baby and baby daddy and I would live happily ever after. As a woman I didn't buy into I should be barefoot and pregnant. I didn't see a man or other people in society as my meal ticket. Its called having some pride and using your nuggen.
People make mistakes but we keep enabling them. Yes giving constant sympathy is a form of enabling. Allowing them to continually blame everyone and everything else is another form of enabling. At least in the old days people wanted to get out of poverty. Today it's as if being poor is a badge of honor.
Becoming elderly is a sad reality, if we could stop aging we would. People choose to ignore it and just like taking care of the poor is paid for by other people so will the responsibility of taking care of the elderly, especially if they didn't prepare. People in the middle class are so busy taking care of themselves and paying for everything and everyone else in society that there is very little if any left for them to take care of their future needs. Only if my mother had not ignored the inevitable (widowed at 40), If I had just 1/4 of what I pay in taxes taking care of my own mother would be a non-issue.
Being poor is NOT something to be worn as a badge of honor. If you think it gives you a pass from living life responsibly, a pass from trying to do everything you can to take care of yourself you're sadly mistaken, the price of your choice falls on other hard working people and there is nothing honorable about that.
Last edited by petch751; 09-16-2015 at 10:24 AM..
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