The cost of nursing homes is horrendous...my understanding had been that if both the husband and the wife are alive, and one of them is in the nursing home, the spouse not in the nursing home, is allowed to retain the primary residence, one vehicle, and 60K in assets and still will be available for some sort of medicaid grants for the spouse in the nursing home...tho I am remembering from a few years ago, so things may have changed...however, when only one spouse is still alive and in the nursing home, that person is not allowed to have an auto, or a home, and less than 2K in assets...at which point Medicaid should kick in...in other words, a single person needing a nursing home, whether single as a result of never marrying, or being divorced or widowed, has to be destitute, before Medicaid will pay anything....2K total is all that is allowed single folks in nursing homes, in order to qualify for Medicaid...now, I am retired from working in nursing homes, so my own knowledge of the numbers and rules may not be quite current...
The advice given for folks to hand their homes over to their children, while retaining the right to live in the home, , until they can no longer do so, is sound advice indeed...seniors are also often advised to give those things they wish leave to their children, while those seniors are still alive, rather than after they have died...if you have something of value that you intend to hand down to your children, if you dont do it before you die, and then need a nursing home, that valuable will be counted among your assets, and may wind up being sold to pay your bills...of course, one must have complete faith and trust in their children, that they will do the right thing, if the seniors decide to hand over their assets to their children...as we all know, some kids will take advantage of this and it is the senior who will wind up hurt...
A lot of this depends on how these things are decided by individual states, and most nursing homes have some sort of a social service office in their facility, to help folks deal with this sort of thing..
I have worked in nursing homes for years, and saw this financial crunch come time after time...it is certainly better to be informed upfront and before the time may come, when you yourself may need a nursing home...
I took care of both my mom and dad at home, until they died...but not everyone can do that, and not everyone wishes to do that...so for many, nursing homes, will be their final home, and how to pay for that, is something to be wisely considered...
but there is a rub here.....that is, why shouldn't people have to pay for their health care?....somebody has to foot the bill....I don't think its necessarily a harsh thing to expect people with assets to pony up...the money they have is theirs, not their childrens', and they should use it to provide for themselves.....
having said all that, I hope to start within a few years to give more money to my adult children.....because they need it now, when they're young and have all those bills....not so much when they are in their 60's.....if one systematically gives his money away, the less there will be to worry about when you need to go to a NH.
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