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I think the poster is referring to SNF, not assisted living. Assisted living is out of pocket, not Medicare/Medicaid. Most people who are living very poorly do not qualify for skilled nursing facilities and don't need them.
Assisted living facilities and skilled nursing facilities are two different animals.
Medicaid certainly does pay for ALF's also.
The qualifications for one or the other are dependent on physical need, not financial.
And just who is it that would suggest rural areas should be exempt from social responsibility?
No one suggested that. What I said was that folks in rural areas are not exempt from social responsibility. What I wrote was in response to your characterization of the problem. Folks could have read what you wrote and surmised that because the problem was smaller in rural areas that the responsibility for addressing the problem was smaller there. I added words to your comment to make sure no one got that impression.
Assisted living facilities and skilled nursing facilities are two different animals.
Medicaid certainly does pay for ALF's also.
The qualifications for one or the other are dependent on physical need, not financial.
In many states you have to be beneath a certain level of income to qualify for Medicaid assistance with long term care.
Some elders have incomes above that threshold but below the cost of assisted living.
For example, say your income is $1,800 but the threshold is $1,500. You would not qualify for Medicaid funding, but still could not afford the $4,000+ cost of most assisted living facilities.
Some states have programs to fill in the gaps. Others do not.
In many states you have to be beneath a certain level of income to qualify for Medicaid assistance with long term care.
Some elders have incomes above that threshold but below the cost of assisted living.
For example, say your income is $1,800 but the threshold is $1,500. You would not qualify for Medicaid funding, but still could not afford the $4,000+ cost of most assisted living facilities.
Some states have programs to fill in the gaps. Others do not.
While it's not cut and dried, the income limits are such that few low income seniors are ineligible.
The limits for Medicaid for assisted living is a lot different than it is for Medcaid medical coverage for non-seniors and/or the disabled.
For instance.........
"Medicaid Income Limits States use one of two approaches to determine if an individual meets their Medicaid income limits. There are income cap states which are said to have "categorically needy Medicaid" and non-income cap states which have "medically needy" or "spend-down" Medicaid. Income cap states set a fixed income limit at 3 times the SSI payment amount.For 2013, this limit is $2,130 a month. Non-income cap states consider an applicant’s income and their cost of care. If it is determined that the applicant cannot afford their cost of care, then he or she will likely qualify. It should be noted that often the family and the state disagree over whether the family can afford the cost of care." Medicaid and Long Term Care
And what would you do with her, now, given all this? Please be very concrete in your answer about what you would dictate happen with the rest of FeelinnLow's cousin's life once she can no longer work. I'm very interested in what you would have done.
Nothing? Its not my business to decide what happens to this particular individual, nor is it my responsibility to do anything with her.
First, a long time ago I did know a woman who had another child to continue getting welfare. I met her and also there was an article in the paper about her. She said the welfare was like her "husband." Other women got to stay home and take care of their kids because they had husbands. This was an educated person and I didn't agree with her but her kids were extremely well behaved and in every other way she seemed to be a decent person.
Secondly, a person who ends up with no money will not live well, as someone said. They will scrape miserably by. Maybe they did make "poor decisions" and maybe there was something the matter with them. Maybe they had a mental problem--who knows? But the resentment on here from some people just because of keeping a person in some lowly shelter with food.
Thirdly------- Forget prison. I always liked that version of retirement where you just lived on the Queen Mary for the rest of your life. I think somebody finally showed that it really wouldn't work but it sure sounds good to me. Meals, room, salt air, different ports of call, swimming pools, movies, library, new people to meet, and medical if you needed it. Not bad at all.
I certainly have no resentment about people receiving government assistance; some truly do need it and use it appropriately. It's just that in light of our current financial issues, I do think we need to consider that it is not sustainable to think that the govt can/should care for every person in the country who doesn't have money. Aren't we, as a country, struggling to fund medicare/medicaid/SS anyway at this point? More and more people NEED help; by all means, use the resources available to you if you need them, but we will reach a point where even those won't provide 'decent' living in the United States....it's a truth we need to face. Anyone's best bet is relying on themselves these days; the government isn't a sure thing.
Subsidized housing, food stamps and other assistance to include Medicaid to supplement Medicare and possible payment of their Part B premiums. Some states also have parental support provisions which require their children to support them.
My parents are both gone now, but had they needed my help I'd have been there for them as much as I could have even to moving them in with me and the wife......NOW the real reason that I am responding to your post is the part that I have bolded... The state has NO right to tell anyone that they have to support their retired parents...
My parents are both gone now, but had they needed my help I'd have been there for them as much as I could have even to moving them in with me and the wife......NOW the real reason that I am responding to your post is the part that I have bolded... The state has NO right to tell anyone that they have to support their retired parents...
Then I assume you are against Medicaid using other peoples tax dollars to support your or other folks parents? That is the challenge we face as a society regarding elder care. Who share carry the load? Our family or someone else family. We face tough choices down the road. Not advocating who if anyone should pay. Just raising the question.
At the age of 83, and alone, my dad was living in a small, but very nice, apartment in Houston, Texas. The apartments were bought out by a company that was going to turn them into 'condos' that the tenants had to buy, or move out. My dad did not have the money that they were asking, and I did not, so I rented a nice little house in town (La Grange, Texas) and we both move in together. I was divorced.
I had never been close to my dad. He was from a German military family. His dad had been in WW1. When Hitler started to become popular they came to America in 1928.. He and I just never really saw eye to eye on things, except this, we both liked baseball. So for the next three months we watched baseball on tv everynight. I got to know him better during that time.
He started getting less healthy and could not even drive. One day I came home early from work and he called me into the bedroom. I went in and he was sitting up in bed and told me that he had tried to commit suicide by drinking something that he had found under the kitchen cabinet. He had talked about that before because he missed my mom so much. She had died 12 years earlier. I called 911 and they picked him up and took him to the hospital where he remained for a week. He survived the attempt but in the process of being where he was, the doctors found out that he had advanced pancreatic cancer and there was nothing that they could do for him. At their request I moved him to a nursing home where they could take care of him better than I could. He lasted through the night and passed away the next morning.
Even though we didn't really get along when I was growing up at home and even afterwards, I am thankful for the three months that we had together. It was good for him and good for me too. I miss him a lot.
Maybe some of you can relate to this story. Or maybe some of you will have to face this someday and will be able to make a better decision on what to do when this time arrives.
By the way, the substance that he found under the kitchen cabinet was Drano drain cleaner.
Last edited by slingshot; 10-13-2013 at 07:25 AM..
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I think somebody finally showed that it really wouldn't work but it sure sounds good to me. Meals, room, salt air, different ports of call, swimming pools, movies, library, new people to meet, and medical if you needed it. Not bad at all.