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It may be that home healthcare is not a viable option. It may be that a baseline level of care in a senior retirement facility might be necessary.
Can we take existing buildings and convert them into safe senior living?
We already do, they are called nursing homes and assisted living facilities. Medicaid pays for nursing home care and assisted living, although you have to search to find assisted living that will take it without a period of private pay first. The thread topic is about people wanting to age at home. And the thread title topic extends to those facilities, too, severe shortages or workers and often poor care.
I am kinda amused and shocked that some here thing everybody had children or family that can or will look after them in old age. Back in the olden days thats the reason people had 15 kids, first as cheap farm labor and second hopefully at least one of them wealthy and kind enough to look after them in old age.
And yea the system isnt very practical. Home health care is a lot more kind to tax payers than sticking everybody into the urine drenched warehouses with the rapists and abusers and very desperate that will take these kind of jobs. Seriously do you want to wipe bottoms for a career? Then why do you think anybody else does, especially for minimum wage so the investors can make a good return??? Some things shouldnt be FOR PROFIT, and this includes most of health care. Unpleasant but necessary jobs should have significant financial reward for those willing to do them. People that wipe bottoms to put food on the table should be some of highest paid people out there. Cause it aint sunshine and lollipops kind of job.
Throwing money at it isn't going to make a dishonorable person more honorable. It's going to make a dishonorable person take the job for the money and will do nothing to enhance the care of the elderly. There are far too many scam artists in this world already who prey on the vulnerable
There needs to be an incentive to take those jobs that extends beyond mere pay. I have mentioned converting failed college campuses into working/learning retirement facilities where healthcare workers receive room/board and training at a reduced cost and learn through hands on real world training. The residents in those facilities would have access to social activities, shuttle service around campus and into the surrounding college town.
If we can pour money into colleges now, why not do it in a way that has a real, tangible benefit to society? I think that if we do it right, we could actually make those learning positions very competitive.
We already do, they are called nursing homes and assisted living facilities. Medicaid pays for nursing home care and assisted living, although you have to search to find assisted living that will take it without a period of private pay first. The thread topic is about people wanting to age at home. And the thread title topic extends to those facilities, too, severe shortages or workers and often poor care.
You only qualify for medicaid if you are already poor or if you have spent your personal saving down to the poverty level.
We already do, they are called nursing homes and assisted living facilities. Medicaid pays for nursing home care and assisted living, although you have to search to find assisted living that will take it without a period of private pay first. The thread topic is about people wanting to age at home. And the thread title topic extends to those facilities, too, severe shortages or workers and often poor care.
It is cheaper for Medicaid to pay for people to stay in their homes, than in nursing homes, And they usually get better care.
Throwing money at it isn't going to make a dishonorable person more honorable. It's going to make a dishonorable person take the job for the money and will do nothing to enhance the care of the elderly. There are far too many scam artists in this world already who prey on the vulnerable
There needs to be an incentive to take those jobs that extends beyond mere pay. I have mentioned converting failed college campuses into working/learning retirement facilities where healthcare workers receive room/board and training at a reduced cost and learn through hands on real world training. The residents in those facilities would have access to social activities, shuttle service around campus and into the surrounding college town.
If we can pour money into colleges now, why not do it in a way that has a real, tangible benefit to society? I think that if we do it right, we could actually make those learning positions very competitive.
But you're still training those workers for low paying jobs after they get their training. Most have families of their own as well and wouldn't want or need room and board. There are already nursing homes that pay for training and certification in exchange for working there after they are done.
If you pay better, you don't have to take the bad ones, you'd have choices. And some are very good even now. We have a few CNAs now who are awful, and administration knows it, but they will not be let go because there's no one to replace them.
Who would pay for the conversion of college campuses (how many "failed" college campuses are there? I don't know of any). It would cost a fortune. Is it government run? We are back to the same issue in that case.
It is cheaper for Medicaid to pay for people to stay in their homes, than in nursing homes, And they usually get better care.
I agree, but they won't pay for enough care at home for a person that needs 24 hour care. We (the nursing home I work in) also have indigent people who don't need any care at all. It would be cheaper for Medicaid to house them somewhere else, too. One guy we had was in his 50's, an amputee who lived in section 8 apartment but he had something like 20 steps to get to his apartment which he couldn't manage. And there were no 1st floor places, he was looking at what could be several years wait. So he had no choice, he called our facility and asked if he could live here, and Medicaid paid for that. Because no one wants affordable housing built in their communities, so there is a severe shortage and a lot of people that don't need nursing home level care ending up living in nursing homes for 20-30 years or more. It's probably a million or more dollars over that lifetime.
But you're still training those workers for low paying jobs after they get their training. Most have families of their own as well and wouldn't want or need room and board. There are already nursing homes that pay for training and certification in exchange for working there after they are done.
If you pay better, you don't have to take the bad ones, you'd have choices. And some are very good even now. We have a few CNAs now who are awful, and administration knows it, but they will not be let go because there's no one to replace them.
Who would pay for the conversion of college campuses (how many "failed" college campuses are there? I don't know of any). It would cost a fortune. Is it government run? We are back to the same issue in that case.
Offer a CNA to LPN to RN program. Give the students reduced tuition/board based on the number of hours of hands on caregiving that they do. They graduate with tons of experience, minimal to no debt and are qualified to apply for mid level positions in their field.
You only qualify for medicaid if you are already poor or if you have spent your personal saving down to the poverty level.
You pay privately until you're down to about 6 months of money left, then apply for Medicaid. My mom still had about $25,000 left when she applied, you don't have to wait till you're down to $2000 before you apply. It takes a long time to get approved. Her place (ALF required 18 months of private pay to be allowed to stay on Medicaid but she ended up being able to pay for 3 years. If you run out of money before it's approved the facility lists you as "Medicaid Pending" and they will reimburse the facility for those months once it's approved. The facility is on top of it and will tell you when to apply.
It is always better to find a place while you still have that dangling carrot of ability to private pay for awhile. If you wait till you're broke you won't have many if any choices. But in either case you have to apply while you still have money because it takes time. Medicaid just won't start paying until you're down to $2000 but you can be approved before that.
You pay privately until you're down to about 6 months of money left, then apply for Medicaid. My mom still had about $25,000 left when she applied, you don't have to wait till you're down to $2000 before you apply. It takes a long time to get approved. Her place (ALF required 18 months of private pay to be allowed to stay on Medicaid but she ended up being able to pay for 3 years. If you run out of money before it's approved the facility lists you as "Medicaid Pending" and they will reimburse the facility for those months once it's approved. The facility is on top of it and will tell you when to apply.
It is always better to find a place while you still have that dangling carrot of ability to private pay for awhile. If you wait till you're broke you won't have many if any choices. But in either case you have to apply while you still have money because it takes time. Medicaid just won't start paying until you're down to $2000 but you can be approved before that.
Unfortunately, by the time a person is in that state they rarely have the ability to do that kind of planning for themselves. It's complex and not at all intuitive to layperson family members, either.
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