Posted on 04/10/2015 4:23:36 PM PDT by TurboZamboni
NEW YORK, NY - The cost of caring for the elderly continues to climb. An industry survey says the median bill for a private room in a nursing home is now $91,000 a year. The report says the cost has increased four percent every year over the last five years.
The annual "Cost of Care" report comes from the insurance company Gemworth Financial, which sells policies to cover long-term care. It's a growing financial burden for families, governments and insurers.
The head of long-term services at the National Council on Aging, Joe Caldwell, says, "Most people don't realize how expensive this care can be until a parent or family member needs it."
(Excerpt) Read more at keloland.com ...
My mom is dealing with this dilemma right now. My dad has dementia and it’s quite the burden on her to look after him as she is in her late 70s. She’s been with him for 60 years now and it hasn’t been a fun ride the whole time. To put him in the VA home just up the road at the old Fitzsimons AMC would cost $84k/year. To put him in private care at one he stayed at temporarily would be $96k/year. It would wipe out savings pretty quickly.
I would love to have the opportunity to run an assisted living/nursing home center at 1/3rd of that price... I couldn’t do it here in the US but in the Philippines I could do that with private bungalows and double or triple the nursing staff and onsite doctors.
I see it with gardens and common areas , satellite TV in English is readily available , free telephone (VoIP) service to the usual US/Canada/Mex would be provided and most if not all medications are far cheaper in cost there.
I know my mom at 85 would love the climate (HOT!) and new surroundings might be a help to keep the mind active.
>> find every way possible to ditch assets so their parents become wards of the state. That is VERY VERY common.
Yes, very common. It’s also morally wrong, IMO.
We took care of Dad in his latter years out of his savings.
He left behind quite a bit less because of that, but it was never “ours” to begin with. It was always his, to be used as required for his care.
If I have any say in the matter, I want to pay my own way until all that I have is depleted. What happens after that is up to the LORD.
My grandmother took care of my Great grandmother and my mother took care of my grandmother until she passed . Nana Johnson (great grandmother) lived to 102 and Nana Burrel (grandmother) lived to 98...I will take my Mother in when it’s time.....this is how it is supposed to be and it should done whenever possible.....also their should be an old age home in every town “funded” by the town not the fed’s ...we used to have them for those without family or destitute....now big corporations suck the population dry and pay the true staffers peanuts.....no one to blame but the selfish bitches and bastards that will not take in family as far as I’m concerned.
Bull sh*t.
That same government which seizes the elderly homes, cars and assets provides all kinds of freebies, prizes and incentives for tens of millions of illegal aliens. This has been going on for many decades now.
>> selfish bitches and bastards that will not take in family
There is the occasional elderly stubborn loved one that absolutely refuses to be “taken in”. Just sayin’.
financial planners talk about the need for long term care insurance.
But long term care insurance, which would cover nursing home costs, is very expensive.
They also say you should sign up in your 50s, so that you are able to be healthy enough to get such insurance.
But then you might end up paying for that insurance for 20 or 30 years before you might actually have such a need as nursing home care.
Financially, this care will severely hurt the finances of middle class people. I don’t know if there is an answer. Private insurance is so expensive. Medicare doesn’t cover nursing home care except under very limited circumstances. Medicaid kicks in when people are destitute. Otherwise, we are all on our own to individually figure out what each of us will do if this happens in our families.
My plan is to marry one of my grandchildren or great-grandchildren (if I ever have one) if I’m widowed. Because of SSM, I’ll be allowed to marry someone I love. The govt will have a hard time seizing assets if they’re passed down that way, IMO.
Yes, very common. It’s also morally wrong, IMO.
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I would agree with you if I didn’t know how these facilities wasted funds and abused their patients. Most are affiliated with large hospital chains that are experts at milking the billing systems of your insurer whether they be private , medicaide or medicare. I would say not protecting your parents assets in that scenario is wrong also... They worked their entire lives to leave something of value to their children ,, and it’s wrong for the children to allow the government (and it’s always the government in the end) to destroy that legacy ... Remember how efficient the government is ,, out of every dollar spent on welfare (of every type) $0.78 goes to overhead.
IIRC, they have laws regarding distribution of assets to qualify for Medicaid within 10 years prior of going into a nursing home. And I believe most nursing homes require all your asset info including your insurance info before they even let you in.
don’t open one in Minnesota- our governor, Marx Dayton, will require your employee be unionized.
I have absolutely no doubt about that. They are in it for the big profits. Concern for the patient is somewhere way down the list.
Just like paying for my kids’ college tuition. There was a whole other price for people who had saved a lifetime to pay their kids’ way and save them the burden of debt upon graduation.
IIRC....my neighbor must update their info every 6 months.
Many persons in nursing homes could be cared for at home "IF" there is a family member who has the mental abilities and disposition needed to do so. By that I mean a disposition where they can mentally handle caring for someone long term. Some can & some can't but it's not a character flaw if a person can't. Some persons due to such issues as Dementia/Alzheimers must be in secure memory units for their own safety and that of others.
The nursing Home industry has a very powerful lobby in DC which means they get the priority on funding for long term care and so the do it yourselfers caring for family get minimal help. The Medicare/Medicaid dollars should be used to encourage home health for elderly and disabled. It's healthier, safer, and the family member remains with family.
Just my two cents worth from past experience.
Medicare with an AARP supplement will pay for 100 days.
after that you’re on your own.
The nurses are usually good. The aids that take care of them can be questionable.
On weekends I had terrible care at one place, I would always end up in the directors office saying on the weekends I never knew what would happen to my mother and going over what had happened.
I had to be there everyday to protect my Mother because she was blind.
After the Medicare and aarp run out I believe to get Medicaid you have to use your own money until that runs out. Then to get Medicaid you have to use your parents money. Then they take into consideration all there assets. Home, car, furniture, everything.
Mom’s second skilled nursing home was better but she gave up and was really out of it.
It was a no restraint home and she basically got dismissed. They said no medicare beds were open. She was in a bed, how could that not be open!
To put her in another facility would be devastating to her.
So with the help of hospice, that was good I brought her home.
blind, couldn’t walk, delusional, hallucinating. It was hard, but she was where she needed to be.
On a rainy March 13th at 3:14 she took her last breath. I made a wreath of red carnations in her hair(her favorite flower) and had her covered in carnations.
She waited for my sister to get here which was amazing.
If anyone has questions about this I will try to help since I went through it and am going through it now with my my Dad
Also those caring for elderly or elder yourselves, there is a thing called sundowners.
When in the hospital they become frightened, don’t know where they are and will do crazy things.
Like pull out IV’s, leads, catheters, try to escape even if they can’t walk.
My Dad’s most recent was when he called me at 2 AM and said I don’t know where I am. I had to calm him and call the nurses station. And I knew I had to get him out of there as soon as I could.
They wanted him to go to skilled nursing.
I took him home and it took 3 days before the confusion and strength got back and I didn’t have to stay with him 24/7
Think about the alternatives if you have an aging loved one say with advancing Alzheimer's, becoming agitated and difficult to manage, incontinent of bowel and/or bladder, needing to be showered, medicated, fed and cared for by hand, maybe with wounds that need daily dressing changes, who would wander off into the street unless monitored and kept in a controlled environment, and who doesn't reliably know who you are any more.
If you really loved and cared about that person, Would it be worth 250 a day to see her fed and housed, cared for reasonably and safely, every day, day after day? Would you be glad the state was picking up the tab after she spent whatever assets she happened to have had in paying for her own care?
That's a not uncommon reality behind the number.
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