Medicare Drawdown??

[busterbrown]

Last edited Mon Jul 29, 2013, 07:12 PM - Edit history (1)

Am I correct that if I am married and living in California and my wife comes down with a disabling medical condition and needs to be placed in an Assisted Living Facility which would cost approximately
3500 a month,... Am I responsible for paying that out of our life’s savings which will leave us broke in
4 years? Except for $25,000 ... No insurance... it was way too expensive when it came up in my 50’s...


Edit: We have Insurance and are healthy. Both just got S.S..... Plan to get married. so she can get my s.S.S. after I’m gone which is $700 more than hers.. We have assets and if one of us needs Assisted Care for a couple of years... We are essentially screwed.. One of us (not married) should have 1/2 our assets..True?

[Bunnahabhain]

1. Medicare does not pay for assisted living

Medicare will only pay for post-hospital care in skilled nursing facilities with usually up to a 100 day cap on services per spell of illness. Also, that 100 day cap is rarely reached as patients must continue to progress and are cut upon plateauing at their new baseline.

You are probably thinking of California's version of Medicaid which they call MediCal. I am not overly familiar with how CA works but my best advice to you is to consult an attorney that is familiar with this. There's no doubt part of your savings will be required to be spent but the question is, "How much?" An attorney could advise you and perhaps save you thousands. Please get some help!

[SoCalDem]

2. Medicaid requires that you be unable to "afford" care

Your choices are to care for her yourself
or if you are too broke to pay any of it, you can get help from Medicaid.

You cannot claim poverty (and eligibility), is you have wealth available for payment. It's mean, but that;s how state aid works.


If you are healthy now (both) and have assets, it may be wise to start transferring them to your children./heirs NOW..with the assumption that you have access to them while you are alive and need them.. You probably need to see a real estate/trust lawyer so you can prepare before someone gets sick.

[Warpy]

3. That's right, and it's why quick divorces are often done

in order to protect the healthy partner's assets from being depleted in record time, leaving two people on welfare and Medicaid.

I'm afraid trying to cope with a frail partner at home, going broke or divorcing are your only options.

My dad found the best way was to keep my mother at home. I was incredibly impressed how long he managed it with only minimal in-home help to get her bathed and do some light housekeeping. She died soon after he wanted help and that's only because she became completely bedridden and couldn't manage a bedside toilet. Incontinence care is what lands most people in nursing homes. It seems that families can deal with everything else.

I certainly can't fault anyone who goes the divorce route. I actually suggested it to my dad but he said he could cope.

[Downwinder]

5. They even have a name. Medical Divorce.

[Downwinder]

4. Partially correct.

The assets can be split in half reserving 50%. Assets are not limited to savings. Check on Medicaid and seek professional advice.

[truebluegreen]

6. As awful as it is, Medicaid requires

that you be flat busted before you qualify--I think you can't have assets of more than $2000. Don't know if that is true for MediCal.

And then you have to go looking for a place willing to accept what Medicaid will pay, which is likely to be a pretty grim choice.

This is a big part of why my SO and MIL (91) currently reside south of the border...she has a private room in a small nursing home run by a doctor and his family (6 patients) and it costs us $1400 a month.

[Bandit]

7. Buy insurance right away, you can not be denied for pre-existing conditions, thanks to Obamacare