Understanding options for ill senior living abroad

[Anonymous]

My best friend's mother (80) is an American citizen who returned to Eastern Europe about 15 years ago. Mom lives alone in outskirts of a big city and is increasingly isolated with some modest declines in mental health. She has a new cancer diagnosis and needs surgery in a few weeks plus a month of rehab. It will be covered by her local insurance but mom will have no visitors or support. Medical facility seems competent. My friend is there now but has to return home before the surgery (young kids and work).

My friend is trying to decide between:

Plan A: Leave mom in Europe to have the surgery and recover alone. Try to hire aides/medical escorts and hope for the best. Return to visit a few weeks after the surgery. Consider a move back to D.C. when things stabilize.

Plan B: Bring mom to D.C. asap and start treatment. Mom doesn't have Medicare but is eligible. Will likely need to pay late application penalty/may struggle to get Part B and supplemental. Costs are an unknown and a huge concern but she would have great support here.

Does anyone have any advice? I was thinking of calling the Medicare Rights hotline tomorrow. Or could a local hospital social worker advise?

Thank you so much. Dcum has helped me tremendously with my own eldercare struggles.

[Anonymous]

How does the mom feel about returning to the US? Just as a data point.

[Anonymous]

Mom would probably prefer to go to US but it’s a lot of upheaval and financial uncertainty. But I’m not sure.

[Anonymous]

Call a Medicare insurance broker - free consultation and they are well versed in supplemental plans.

Call the Medicare ship office for the state where she would live.

https://www.shiphelp.org/

[Anonymous]

Thank you! I didn’t know about those resources.

[Anonymous]

What is the cancer? Slow growing? I’d think long and hard about doing surgery on an 80 year old. Recovery will never be as easy as the doctors say it will.

[Anonymous]

Lung cancer; don’t know details but the surgery is booked.

[Anonymous]

I would go with Plan A for now until Medicare and most importantly, a Medicare supplement plan is also obtained.

[Anonymous]

If Medicare is an option, I would bring her home.

[Anonymous]

It can take up to 60 days for a Medicare application to be approved.

So that plan may not work.

Either way, I would get my mother here. She is probably in the last years of her life. It will be easier for both of them to be in the sane country.

My friend recently had a sick parent in Eastern Europe. It was a nightmare (for example, getting physicians to share any information over the phone , getting them to prescribe rehab, will they even speak English?). And her father had a spouse there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Lung cancer; don’t know details but the surgery is booked.

That usually has a quick progression and bad prognosis. If the worst happens, will your friend wonder if the outcome would have been different here?

(I am not saying it would be, but wouldn’t she feel better if she had arranged for optimal care for her mom? Not having her be alone with a very scary diagnosis?)

[Anonymous]

If she is the citizen of that country (and I assume since her medical care is covered, she is), she'd want to stay put. She returned for a reason.

[Anonymous]

^^ this

The prognosis for lung cancer is not good at any age. At 80? Probably very bad

[Anonymous]

What country? It makes a big difference

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If she is the citizen of that country (and I assume since her medical care is covered, she is), she'd want to stay put. She returned for a reason.

When she was not facing a terminal illness.