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To our readers: Last week, a 42-year-old father of three young children wrote us about his 39-year-old wife who is unable to move from the waist down. He can no longer provide for her care at home, go to work and also take care of their children. At the same time, the family can't afford the $6,000-plus per month it costs for a nursing facility. And there is no long-term care insurance because who could imagine a 39-year-old finding himself/herself in this condition? Medicaid won't help, penalizing this young family for being frugal and saving their money. And, without proper planning, any inheritance will go to pay nursing home expenses, not to educate their children.
He and his wife are torn because their options are limited. They have considered divorce in order to allow her to qualify for Medicaid assistance that would provide for her care while allowing him to raise and educate their children.
~Snip~
So long as the institutionalized person has sufficient capacity, he or she should sign new durable financial and health care powers of attorney by which they can still name their former spouses to make their decisions for them should they be unable to do so. But a caveat here to prevent the Terri Schiavo situation: Make sure these documents include language strong enough to disqualify a former spouse who becomes involved in a relationship with another person in order to avoid conflicts of interest.
While the decision may be difficult, the additional planning requires expertise that resides in the hands of lawyers who understand all of these issues. This is not an exercise for the inexperienced.
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We have been following the plight of little Emilio and the Texas Futile Care law that threatens the Emilio's of the world. Here is a sample of the commentary from Wesley J. Smith for National Review Online...
What if hospitals could put a sign over their doors stating, “We reserve the right to refuse life-sustaining care?” People would be outraged. Yet that is precisely what Texas law explicitly grants to hospitals — namely, to say no to wanted life-sustaining treatment, on the basis of subjective judgments about the quality of the patient’s life. It is an example of a bioethical concept known as Futile Care Theory, a.k.a. medical futility.
A Not-So-Divine Intervention... Texas Catholic bishops fail to protect unwanted patients.
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