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the majority of people can't afford to pay privately for nursing home care, so most people who are in nursing home care long term are receiving medicaid.
catsy girl
Isn't there a look-back period of some years regarding the spend-down?
There are actually alternatives to LTC and Assisted Living. The new thing now is "Medical Foster Care". Elders live with a family and the family gets reimbursed by Medicare. This can even be your own kin. Cheaper to pay folks to keep Grandpa at home than put him in a care facility.
I see this being quite a trend and we will hear more about this in the next decade.
Isn't there a look-back period of some years regarding the spend-down?
Three years. Five years for gifting to a trust.
Regarding earlier posts:
As far as medicare covering LTC for the first 90 days, I don't believe that's correct.
Medicare alone will pay for the first 20 days for skilled care only and then there's a co-pay for the next 80 days and that's it. You also have to meet some pretty stringent guidelines just to get that.
You need a medigap policy in order to get the co-pays taken care of for the above 80 days.
In addition to the really good lists and thoughts above, I think there are a couple of other things (probably further downstream than circa 2013) ... not yet mentioned:
1). Seniors who are depleting their savings/IRA principle to stay afloat until they qualify for Social Security; or retirees attempting to offset inadequate CD/T-Bill returns ... until the market recovers -- who may run-out/short of money later.
2). Continued government waste and corruption that ultimately pushes America to either print so much 'funny money' that inflation spirals out of control; ... or forces us to adopt draconian Greece/Spain-type measures that cut-off pensions and other benefits --- for seniors who have no way of replenishing their resources.
3). Seniors whose grown children/grandchildren have lost jobs, homes and futures ... and who may ultimately face financial disaster ... without a senior-parent 'bail out'
4). An actuarial imbalance that garners enough votes to essentially throw SS, Medicare/Medicaid 'under the bus' ... or at least 'guts' the programs to the point that aging seniors cannot keep-up with their own rising healthcare costs.
5). Those facing what increasingly appears to be the 'End Times'; who always intended to enter a personal relationship with Christ ... but, have now forgotten their intention and are living financially secure, but, hopeless lives (and can't remember why!)
Poignant points, all. Assisted living is fantastically expensive. I wonder what percentage of seniors are simply never going to be able to afford it. And what, if any, alternatives will be put into place.
Two things.
1. Don't know what prices are in your neighborhood, but assisted living is a square deal in mine--not "fantastically expensive." When my mother needed assisted living in 2000, the price was around $2300/month. One of my siblings asked me how she could afford it; the answer was "easily." Here is a partial list of expenses that went away: real estate taxes, home insurance, car insurance and maintenance, groceries, cable TV, utilities. And she had a home to sell that she no longer needed. The tab for assisted living does not go on top of all other lifestyle expenses--it replaces one lifestyle with another.
2. Back to the OP: the biggest issue seniors face is how to do their utmost to maintain the highest achievable level of physical health. If fifty extra pounds make the difference between insulin-dependent diabetes and something easier to manage, or if dietary changes can improve cardiac health, or if exercise is needed to improve overall health, it will be more important than ever to take charge of one's own health and maximize it. As others have noted, the status quo is not an option--some day soon, there will be limits on health care extended to the elderly. Medicare's 'open checkbook' policy is over and done, no matter who wins this election or any other. It isn't ideology, it's arithmetic.
And as of today, what happens when the term covered by LTC is up? They get to stay in the nursing home and Medicaid kicks in after they've completely depleted their own resources? Or do they get kicked out?
They will pay the monthly fee from their savings. They can afford it. It will take awhile before their resources are depleted. They had the foresight to know they would need LTC. They had the means to pay the premiums for 10 years.
My FIL is in such ill health he may not last 2.5 years. My motherinlaw, on the other hand, may live forever.
and YES, LTC is NOT covered by Medicare contrary to Mr. Bethesda.
It's also important to note - that the particular assisted living my inlaws are in is owned by the Westin Hotel corporation. It's big money for them. It's huge profit.
A co-worker/attorney friend of mine has a brotherinlaw in Texas who owns an assisted living center. The trend is toward higher end assisted living.
and $2300 is probably the base cost for assisted living. Once you start with the add-ons the price climbs. Just for medication management MY mother pays $250 a month. My inlaws pay $350 a month. They you are nickel and dimed for levels of assistance - like bathcare, daily clothing, feeding, etc.
I expect more corporations to jump on the assisted living bandwagon - because that is where the money is.
IYO, without getting into politics what are the biggest issues aging retirees and seniors 65+ face as a group/generation in the next few years? Are you worried about, or somehow just concerned about these issues alone? Who else shares your views? Do you know of others who would want to join a discussion group with you?
Where does "concern" become necessary (if at all) to be an activist in some way? I ask this last question because the boomers are one of the most known generations for activism, but that does not necessarily mean sitting down on a sidewalk with a sign.
Morning New EnglandGirl: You enjoying this beautiful New England Fall that we have going on? I sure am.
Regarding your question about being worried about anything being a Senior; I would have to say there has got to be some way to simplify the transition from company based health insurance to Medicare. I am going thru that transition right now and it is so confusing. I have an Insurance Broker I am working with who, thank God, is a Senior herself and knows her stuff. Right now I am pretty sure for a supplemental plan, I am going with Connecticare. They seem to have the best to offer.
I think I can safely say that my days of being an Activist are long gone. I would be worried that should I decide to fall back into that old familiar "sit-on-the-sidewalk" or "burn my bra" mentality that I would sit down and not be able to get back up and be immediately classified as insane and if I burned my bra today they would haul me off to the looney bin AFTER I managed to pick my boobs up off the sidewalk.
Most Senior Citizens centers have advisors who can point you in the right direction for most anything you will need as a senior. If there isn't that available...talk to your older senior friends who have been through all the changes and will have good advice.
My advice to Seniors...don't go into it thinking ahhhhhh"Golden Years"...don't know why it was ever labled that. Go into your older years thanking God that you have made it this far and be ready for a few unexpected aches and pains that you were not told about. Grow old gracefully and thankfully and be blessed.
I have a former coworker/friend who is a Type I diabetic. She was so severely stricken in her teens and 20's she was advised to go on an insulin pump.. one of the first ever.
She is, consequently, a registered dietician, and has worked as a diabetes educator.
She just told me she thought she hit the lottery when her employer told her that part of her employment package was portable LTC coverage. Premiums at $140 a month.
I have a former coworker/friend who is a Type I diabetic. She was so severely stricken in her teens and 20's she was advised to go on an insulin pump.. one of the first ever.
She is, consequently, a registered dietician, and has worked as a diabetes educator.
She just told me she thought she hit the lottery when her employer told her that part of her employment package was portable LTC coverage. Premiums at $140 a month.
How many employers today offer that?
LTC coverage in all forms has been ravaged by premium increases, limitations on availability, and/or companies are withdrawing from the market. The best deal today can be transformed into a lousy deal tomorrow by premium increases. So your friend "hit the lottery" but the lottery may hit her back...the only sure cure is to accumulate assets and hope they are sufficient to see you through--at least until you are beyond caring what Medicaid provides for indigent long-term care residents.
Yup. My aunt died at age 91 after 2.5 years in a nursing home. Once she was there, especially after my uncle died, she just withdrew into herself. She once said her world was gone.
Same with my mother. Can't this horrible situation change somehow?
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what are the biggest issues aging retirees and seniors 65+ face as a group/generation in the next few years? Are you worried about, or somehow just concerned about these issues alone? Who else shares your views? Do you know of others who would want to join a discussion group with you? 
