Long Term Health Care and Supplemental Insurance
TV ClubHouse: archives: Long Term Health Care and Supplemental Insurance
Whoami | Friday, August 16, 2002 - 12:59 pm     Hello, for those who have not followed my saga over the last month and a half, I'll let you know my Mom had a stroke on July 3. One of the many questions was "who is your supplemental insurance?" She has none, and is only on Medicare. Long story short, she had to spend a couple of weeks in a nursing home to get more rehab, and we had to target a release date to coincide with what Medicare would cover (they cover 20 days at 100%, then we would have had to pay 105$ a day co-pay for the next 80 days. After that, Medicare is done, and we would have been on our own. She isn't eligible for Medicaid, cause she (and myself) own our house. Medicaid dictates that a person cannot have over $2000 in assests. Mom's roommate at the nursing home was going into Assisted Living, and had to sell her house, then the proceeds of that would go to the Assisted Living facility ($5000 a month). Once all her assests are drained, she can then apply for Medicaid. So, I have a lot of research to do. For one thing, the social worker at the nursing home said that when a spouse goes into long term care (under Medicaid), the remaining spouse can stay in the home, and not be forced to sell. But, they didn't know if there were any provisions for Mother/Daughter co-ownership, or for the bank accounts (which are also all in both our names). The hard and distasteful part of this story is....Mom came home two days ago, and has gone right back into her habits of what put her there in the first place (smoking and drinking). So far, the talks I've had with her have made her think a bit, but right in the middle of a talk today, she lit up. Our family now has to prepare for the probablility that Mom will have another stroke, and it will be worse the next time around (the doctors have all warned this too). If Mom has to go into long term care, will we have to sell our house, and will I then be thrust out on the street? Does anyone know about Medicaid, or where I can go researching? I have some phone numbers, and will do some research on the web. But if anyone can point me in the right direction, I would appreciate it. Also, are there insurance companies that would handle this, where Mom can buy into the policy, and be covered if/when this happens, and not have to sell the house? |
Max | Friday, August 16, 2002 - 01:09 pm     You probably should talk to a lawyer to find out what the best course of action is regarding your combined assets. We moved my mom to assisted living last summer. $5000 is really steep unless it's alzheimers care, but I'm sure it varies from region to region. We were paying $2800 a month for assisted living for mom. She had a stroke in the spring and after that, we moved her to an adult foster care home instead. There are only 5 residents there and they each have a private bedroom in the house. There's full-time care onsite and the place is owned and operated by a nurse. It's great because she gets much more personalized care and, if she does have another stroke or whatever, they will still be able to care for her there, so no more moves (which are traumatic for her). Cost for foster care is much less, too, running us $2300 a month. My brother is an attorney and many years ago, before dad died, he put all their assets into a family trust. It made things a LOT smoother when dad passed away because there was no probate issues or anything like that. Now, with mom no longer able to take care of her own finances, the Trust makes it easy for us to deal with things. I'm the trustee, so I have the ability to deal with all her financial issues without much hassle at all. Anyway, an attorney is what you need. It's all too complicated to figure out without some solid legal advice. Getting supplemental insurance now, AFTER she's had the stroke, might not be worth the money. I can tell you for sure that Long Term Care insurance isn't all it's cracked up to be. Mom has one of those policies, but the rules for what constitutes the need for long term care are so restrictive that we can't use it. And the premiums are high. Good luck to you and your mom. This is a hard position to be in. |
Weinermr | Friday, August 16, 2002 - 05:32 pm     Whoami, See an attorney that specializes in Elder Law. They should be able to find a way for you to keep your house and your assets, and get for your mom all the benefits and assistance to which she is entitled. Good luck. |
Pamy | Saturday, August 17, 2002 - 11:31 am     All states have different laws regarding Medical/Medicaid, my Grandma is in Missouri and my mom and she were co-owners of the house, Medicaid didn't make her sell the house. My Mom died in 97 so the lawyer transfered my Mom's half to me, now my grandma and I are joint tenants with right of survivorship but the lawyer said that when she dies Medicaid could make me sell the house and give them her half of the money as a semi repayment on all the money they have spent on her. Trusts are the best thing in the world for real estate ownership. You would not have to worry about all this if the house was in a trust, but depending on your state it might be too late to put it in a trust now. If you can't afford an attorney, there are many websites that might help, also Suze Orman is one of the best people to give financial advice, she changed my life!! Unfortunately I didn't find out about her until after my Mom had died, if I had known what I know now (via Suze) I would have not had 10,000 stolen from our lawyer!! I know her books cover this subject and I think she might have a section about it on her site, go to www.suzeorman.com. Good luck, I know how hard these times are
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Rissa | Sunday, August 18, 2002 - 10:47 am     Whoami, I am not American, have NO CLUE about your insurance system, but I wonder if this would work..... When my dad starting getting really ill a few years back, he got hit with a major depression. I won't go into it but he scared the bejesus out of himself (and us!!!) and worried (worries) about what he was capable of if it ever happened again. He took my mother and went to a lawyer where he SOLD my mother their house, the car, trailer, etc. (everything he owned in other words) for $1. He wanted to make sure that no matter what happened, he wouldn't be able to change his will, sell anything, etc. That if he destroyed property, the insurance would cover it for mom. Would this be allowed in the US? If your mom sold you everything and had it drawn up legal, would she then be able to get medicare? Or would you, as caretaker, still have your finances considered? |
Pamy | Sunday, August 18, 2002 - 10:59 am     The lawyer in Missouri told us if we did something like that or even gift the house to myself the state would consider the value of the house as the sale/gift amount and she would be disqualified from medicaid. |
Rissa | Sunday, August 18, 2002 - 11:18 am     Ahh, K. Was just a thought. I wasn't living in the same city as my parents at the time, but from what I recall... the lawyer told my dad that if he just gifted the stuff to mom, or simply transferred ownership, that as a long-standing spouse.. my dad would still be considered half owner. But by selling it to her through a lawyer and writing up a document forsaking all claim to anything she owns (as in a premarital/postmarital contract) that it was fine. Mind you, my parents did it for different reasons. If dad *flips* again and does something like try to write my mother out of his will.. then he can't because technically he doesn't own anything but his clothes. LOL He also took his name off of every bank account/credit card, etc. If he drives her car into a wall then she doesn't have to struggle for months while waiting for probate and insurance battles to be settled while THEIR accounts are all frozen. |
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