Harris Proposes that Medicar cover Long-Term Care at Home

[Anonymous]

Considering full time care is 250K/ year we'd need taxes from 10 average Americans working to support 1 person with live in care.

[Anonymous]

I have an anxiety disorder, preplan everything, and have no clue why anybody wants to live with Alzheimer's. I can't even stand being touched by strangers, never mind being spoonfed and tossed around like a slab of meat.

But then I don't live in the US so I can choose medical aid in dying for early stage Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, MS or pretty much anything you get if you live too long. Too bad you live in a country that pretends to care about "life" when it's actually only about money. Lots of kaching-kaching tending to people who want to live past their best-by date in any enfeebled state.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have parents in assisted living because they couldn’t afford private care and needed more support, so I understand this issue well. I do love it, but I think this negatively impacts an entire demographic no one has mentioned - first-time home buyers.

If elders aren’t selling and moving in with relatives or ALFs, then we lose this housing option for young people.

Thoughts?

Having some help in paying for home health aides won't keep people living independently in their homes for too long.

Unless they have family living with them to do the bulk of the caregiving (evenings, weekends, and all oversight of the caregivers) people who live alone will soon need to sell and move anyhow.

Who this WILL help? People like me -- married to a disabled person. We're not going to be selling this house anytime soon. Even if my spouse goes into a VERY EXPENSIVE nursing facility, the rest of the family still needs a house to live in. They won't let me move into the nursing home with him for free, either.

Who will this help? Adult kids who move mom into the house with them, but who still need to work during the day. Medicare could help pay for a caregiver to come during the day. Adult children still provide the care evenings, weekends.

If a single, elderly widowed lady is living on her own in a biig, big house? Medicare paying for someone to come 25 hours a week, even 35 hours a week... only lets her stay there as long as she can handle evenings and weekends on her own. Then, don't worry, she'll sell so younger people can live in that house of hers.

Did Harris specifically say her intention is to only cover 25-35 hours per week?

No but reality is that it won’t be 24/7 care. Will it happen? Not with a Republican Senate, but I for one would like to hear more about the proposal. Maybe it needs a lot of tweaking and maybe it won’t happen immediately but let’s start the conversation. I give credit to the Bush administration for creating the Medicare prescription drug program. It isn’t perfect but it has helped a lot of seniors and now the Biden administration is closing some of the loopholes and making drugs more affordable.

So let’s talk about long term care. Perhaps it could even be some sort of insurance program that is subsidized. It’s basically now impossible to buy LTC insurance.

Until she specifies that, we don't know what her intentions are.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Considering full time care is 250K/ year we'd need taxes from 10 average Americans working to support 1 person with live in care.

The good news is, this person's kids would get to inherit the house! While the 10 average Americans can't afford one.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Considering full time care is 250K/ year we'd need taxes from 10 average Americans working to support 1 person with live in care.

The good news is, this person's kids would get to inherit the house! While the 10 average Americans can't afford one.

Of course being elderly and needing care is no guarantee that you’ll own a house, or that you’ll have kids.
And if you have kids, there’s a chance that one of them is jeopardizing their own chances of a comfortable retirement— and of ever owning a house — because their career goals got derailed because they were providing eldercare. So, yeah, it IS good news.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Considering full time care is 250K/ year we'd need taxes from 10 average Americans working to support 1 person with live in care.

The good news is, this person's kids would get to inherit the house! While the 10 average Americans can't afford one.

Of course being elderly and needing care is no guarantee that you’ll own a house, or that you’ll have kids.
And if you have kids, there’s a chance that one of them is jeopardizing their own chances of a comfortable retirement— and of ever owning a house — because their career goals got derailed because they were providing eldercare. So, yeah, it IS good news.

Under this plan, they are not. They are just reaping the benefits from taxes of 10 average Americans.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have parents in assisted living because they couldn’t afford private care and needed more support, so I understand this issue well. I do love it, but I think this negatively impacts an entire demographic no one has mentioned - first-time home buyers.

If elders aren’t selling and moving in with relatives or ALFs, then we lose this housing option for young people.

Thoughts?

Having some help in paying for home health aides won't keep people living independently in their homes for too long.

Unless they have family living with them to do the bulk of the caregiving (evenings, weekends, and all oversight of the caregivers) people who live alone will soon need to sell and move anyhow.

Who this WILL help? People like me -- married to a disabled person. We're not going to be selling this house anytime soon. Even if my spouse goes into a VERY EXPENSIVE nursing facility, the rest of the family still needs a house to live in. They won't let me move into the nursing home with him for free, either.

Who will this help? Adult kids who move mom into the house with them, but who still need to work during the day. Medicare could help pay for a caregiver to come during the day. Adult children still provide the care evenings, weekends.

If a single, elderly widowed lady is living on her own in a biig, big house? Medicare paying for someone to come 25 hours a week, even 35 hours a week... only lets her stay there as long as she can handle evenings and weekends on her own. Then, don't worry, she'll sell so younger people can live in that house of hers.

Thank you for your thoughtful response. I am sorry for your situation. I asked because I truly wondered how significant the impact would be, and your response reminded me why my parents went into ALF. At the time, only one of them needed it, but they didn’t want to be separated and couldn’t stay in the house because there were too many issues there.

In terms of jobs, there would be an increase in ADA upgrades for these homes, which I’d love to see a tax break for.

I could see this being on the level of ACA in how everything would come together. It does have so much potential for helping this country “turn the page” and truly care for one another instead of knocking them down.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have parents in assisted living because they couldn’t afford private care and needed more support, so I understand this issue well. I do love it, but I think this negatively impacts an entire demographic no one has mentioned - first-time home buyers.

If elders aren’t selling and moving in with relatives or ALFs, then we lose this housing option for young people.

Thoughts?

Having some help in paying for home health aides won't keep people living independently in their homes for too long.

Unless they have family living with them to do the bulk of the caregiving (evenings, weekends, and all oversight of the caregivers) people who live alone will soon need to sell and move anyhow.

Who this WILL help? People like me -- married to a disabled person. We're not going to be selling this house anytime soon. Even if my spouse goes into a VERY EXPENSIVE nursing facility, the rest of the family still needs a house to live in. They won't let me move into the nursing home with him for free, either.

Who will this help? Adult kids who move mom into the house with them, but who still need to work during the day. Medicare could help pay for a caregiver to come during the day. Adult children still provide the care evenings, weekends.

If a single, elderly widowed lady is living on her own in a biig, big house? Medicare paying for someone to come 25 hours a week, even 35 hours a week... only lets her stay there as long as she can handle evenings and weekends on her own. Then, don't worry, she'll sell so younger people can live in that house of hers.

This is our case. We had to move my mom in with us. I had to quit my teaching job, which allows zero flexibility, to take care of her. She doesn’t need 24 hr care, but I am anchored to my house, and can only leave for a few hours at a time. If I could get some elder care help just four hours a day, it would be a huge help.

We are still have a teenager at home, and have had to miss several college events of our oldest kid. My mother’s social security check would not cover four hours of care per day. We are saving as much as we can for when she will have to be placed in a memory care facility. Any kind of help, would be welcomed! I would love to be able to go back to work. I am lucky my husband’s income can keep us all afloat, but with few to any luxuries.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have an anxiety disorder, preplan everything, and have no clue why anybody wants to live with Alzheimer's. I can't even stand being touched by strangers, never mind being spoonfed and tossed around like a slab of meat.

But then I don't live in the US so I can choose medical aid in dying for early stage Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, MS or pretty much anything you get if you live too long. Too bad you live in a country that pretends to care about "life" when it's actually only about money. Lots of kaching-kaching tending to people who want to live past their best-by date in any enfeebled state.

I find posts like this judgmental and disingenuous. I have had the unfortunate task of helping people at end of life. They all talked about never wanting to live once they could no longer care for themselves and/or once they learned they were Dx with something. But when faced with no longer existing, they ALL did everything they could to hang on as long as possible. I believe the only people who are successful with that mindset are those who are in tremendous pain and want to escape the pain and aren't thinking of anything else.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have parents in assisted living because they couldn’t afford private care and needed more support, so I understand this issue well. I do love it, but I think this negatively impacts an entire demographic no one has mentioned - first-time home buyers.

If elders aren’t selling and moving in with relatives or ALFs, then we lose this housing option for young people.

Thoughts?

Having some help in paying for home health aides won't keep people living independently in their homes for too long.

Unless they have family living with them to do the bulk of the caregiving (evenings, weekends, and all oversight of the caregivers) people who live alone will soon need to sell and move anyhow.

Who this WILL help? People like me -- married to a disabled person. We're not going to be selling this house anytime soon. Even if my spouse goes into a VERY EXPENSIVE nursing facility, the rest of the family still needs a house to live in. They won't let me move into the nursing home with him for free, either.

Who will this help? Adult kids who move mom into the house with them, but who still need to work during the day. Medicare could help pay for a caregiver to come during the day. Adult children still provide the care evenings, weekends.

If a single, elderly widowed lady is living on her own in a biig, big house? Medicare paying for someone to come 25 hours a week, even 35 hours a week... only lets her stay there as long as she can handle evenings and weekends on her own. Then, don't worry, she'll sell so younger people can live in that house of hers.

Did Harris specifically say her intention is to only cover 25-35 hours per week?

No but reality is that it won’t be 24/7 care. Will it happen? Not with a Republican Senate, but I for one would like to hear more about the proposal. Maybe it needs a lot of tweaking and maybe it won’t happen immediately but let’s start the conversation. I give credit to the Bush administration for creating the Medicare prescription drug program. It isn’t perfect but it has helped a lot of seniors and now the Biden administration is closing some of the loopholes and making drugs more affordable.

So let’s talk about long term care. Perhaps it could even be some sort of insurance program that is subsidized. It’s basically now impossible to buy LTC insurance.

Until she specifies that, we don't know what her intentions are.

I’m the PP and it honestly doesn’t matter, it’s Congress that would have to pass the legislation and if that were possible I am confident it wouldn’t be 24/7 care fully covered. There’s just no way. As others have said though, how amazing if there were a way to get care even 8-10 hours a day at a reasonable price that allowed family caregivers to still hold down a job.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have parents in assisted living because they couldn’t afford private care and needed more support, so I understand this issue well. I do love it, but I think this negatively impacts an entire demographic no one has mentioned - first-time home buyers.

If elders aren’t selling and moving in with relatives or ALFs, then we lose this housing option for young people.

Thoughts?

Having some help in paying for home health aides won't keep people living independently in their homes for too long.

Unless they have family living with them to do the bulk of the caregiving (evenings, weekends, and all oversight of the caregivers) people who live alone will soon need to sell and move anyhow.

Who this WILL help? People like me -- married to a disabled person. We're not going to be selling this house anytime soon. Even if my spouse goes into a VERY EXPENSIVE nursing facility, the rest of the family still needs a house to live in. They won't let me move into the nursing home with him for free, either.

Who will this help? Adult kids who move mom into the house with them, but who still need to work during the day. Medicare could help pay for a caregiver to come during the day. Adult children still provide the care evenings, weekends.

If a single, elderly widowed lady is living on her own in a biig, big house? Medicare paying for someone to come 25 hours a week, even 35 hours a week... only lets her stay there as long as she can handle evenings and weekends on her own. Then, don't worry, she'll sell so younger people can live in that house of hers.

This is our case. We had to move my mom in with us. I had to quit my teaching job, which allows zero flexibility, to take care of her. She doesn’t need 24 hr care, but I am anchored to my house, and can only leave for a few hours at a time. If I could get some elder care help just four hours a day, it would be a huge help.

We are still have a teenager at home, and have had to miss several college events of our oldest kid. My mother’s social security check would not cover four hours of care per day. We are saving as much as we can for when she will have to be placed in a memory care facility. Any kind of help, would be welcomed! I would love to be able to go back to work. I am lucky my husband’s income can keep us all afloat, but with few to any luxuries.

PP, off topic but could you tutor virtually at all to make some money if your mom doesn’t need constant care? Depending on what you taught you could make some money at least from home. I pay 70-100 for tutors we have used per hour.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Considering full time care is 250K/ year we'd need taxes from 10 average Americans working to support 1 person with live in care.

The good news is, this person's kids would get to inherit the house! While the 10 average Americans can't afford one.

Of course being elderly and needing care is no guarantee that you’ll own a house, or that you’ll have kids.
And if you have kids, there’s a chance that one of them is jeopardizing their own chances of a comfortable retirement— and of ever owning a house — because their career goals got derailed because they were providing eldercare. So, yeah, it IS good news.

Under this plan, they are not. They are just reaping the benefits from taxes of 10 average Americans.

Good to know. If it’s possible to immediately get all of the services that are needed for the elder to maintain independence, that would be great. It seems unlikely, but great.
As to the taxes — the elderly person and their kids have been paying taxes throughout their lives. Good that they’re getting meaningful services back.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Considering full time care is 250K/ year we'd need taxes from 10 average Americans working to support 1 person with live in care.

The good news is, this person's kids would get to inherit the house! While the 10 average Americans can't afford one.

Of course being elderly and needing care is no guarantee that you’ll own a house, or that you’ll have kids.
And if you have kids, there’s a chance that one of them is jeopardizing their own chances of a comfortable retirement— and of ever owning a house — because their career goals got derailed because they were providing eldercare. So, yeah, it IS good news.

Under this plan, they are not. They are just reaping the benefits from taxes of 10 average Americans.

Good to know. If it’s possible to immediately get all of the services that are needed for the elder to maintain independence, that would be great. It seems unlikely, but great.
As to the taxes — the elderly person and their kids have been paying taxes throughout their lives. Good that they’re getting meaningful services back.

Boom. My parents kept one of our siblings with a development disability at home with them until they were 55. What my sibling received with my parents was a pittance to what was then paid to the group home where they relocated for the last few years.

When my parents soon after needed help in their twilight years, I was ruthless in ensuring that we secured all the support we could for them given that they subsidized the local/state/federal government for years for care of our sibling while also paying taxes.

[Anonymous]

My MIL got $1K a month in social security plus food stamps. She was denied medicaid here but had it in her own state which meant 80/20 copays and more as we couldn't afford a supplement. There was zero help. It was worse than having a newborn and it got to the point she could not leave the house and I could not leave her alone for safety. My income was not enough to cover child care let alone a caregiver or both. I could not work. After a year I broke and we had to do a long term medicaid bed and it was horrific. I still have to go a few times a week and manage everything. It was a lot of work for years.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This would require massive immigration to actually staff, no matter how much money was available, and at the same time those immigrants are being sought after by other countries with declining demographics.

well, we have that already ... massive immigration. too bad they are all unskilled.