Elderly parent is on Medicaid in nursing home, will they lose financing?
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Anonymous
This. Most elderly run out of money, have to sell their house, and end up bankrupt before starting Medicaid. |
Anonymous
Well the purpose of Medicaid is to protect the destitute. So it’s working the way it’s supposed to. One thing though. Most are not bankrupt in the legal sense but rather the pedestrian use of the word. |
Anonymous
+1 Average age of nursing home residents: 81.1 https://www.theseniorlist.com/nursing-homes/statistics/ |
Anonymous
Many also don’t have money or homes and living off of very little so qualify is no problem. |
Anonymous
I’m sorry, this made me laugh. Sadly fit here as well 
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Anonymous
Good. Relatives should not fight it |
Anonymous
| I predict it will be an issue for many seniors and their families. I’m thankful that my dad at 85 is in excellent health and has saved more than enough. I have an aunt without children who will eventually need a nursing home but thankfully has LTC and has a healthy pension and a home that can be sold. But my MIL in another state would not be able to afford a nursing home if needed and I suspect would end up on Medicaid. I hope she stays healthy to the end because DH and I can’t afford to pay. Nursing homes are expensive. When my family member was in one, it was 15k a month. It must be more now. So many people are at risk. |
Anonymous
Actually LTC in Medicaid is funded differently in most states, along with hospitals. Medicaid coverage of things like physician visits, Rx, therapy, etc is paid for by state income taxes, and the federal government matches what the state pays (from 50 -70%). But for the big "institutional" providers, a LOT of states raise money by taxing the providers themselves and then using the money to pay them back through Medicaid. As long as the tax rates are <6% it is allowed. So if Medicaid in Indiana, for example, pays nursing homes $3 billion a year, and the federal government contributes 70% to Medicaid in Indiana, Indiana can tax the nursing homes 5%, which is under 6% and therefore legal, and raise $150,000,000. Indiana then submits the $150M to the federal government as its share of $650M in state spending (30%) and gets $500M in federal money (the other 70%). It uses that $500M plus the $150M in tax money as a huge chunk of the $3B it is spending on nursing homes. States do the same thing with hospitals. The OBBB is removing state's ability to raise money this way, calling it "fraud" even though it is currently legal. In Indiana's case, if they can't do the provider tax thing, they are going to have $650 million less to spend on nursing facilities out of $3B they spend now. That is a LOT of money that they will either have to: a) raise out of state income taxes/sales taxes b) cut from other state services to put in the Medicaid budget c) cut from other parts of Medicaid, by cutting eligibility for optional groups or cutting other services d) cut by reducing provider payments, mainly to nursing homes, which means they will close and people will have nowhere to go The only way you get a TRILLION dollars out of Medicaid, which the OBBB says it does, is by cutting people, services, and provider payments. There is nothing close to $1T in fraud waste and abuse. There is just republicans who consider government-funded health care waste, and federal payments to states abuse and fraud. |
Anonymous
If we took all the billionaires’ money and funneled it towards Medicaid and Medicare, how long do you think it would last? |
Anonymous
The top 5 percent of earners currently pay on average a 23 percent tax rate. If that was raised (through increases on various forms of income) to an average of 25 percent, the amount they would contribute would go from $1.3 trillion to $1.4 trillion a year, or about $100 billion a year. An average 2 percent tax increase. Its not going to save Medicaid and Medicare but its about how much they are planning to cut per year through the OBBB. |
Anonymous
Not OP, but I had a relative enter a nursing home at age 69 after a series of strokes. She lived another 14 years. Nursing homes provide daily medical care as well as assistance with activities of daily living. Assisted living only handles ADLs. |
Anonymous
Was he your sister’s health care proxy? |
Anonymous
Those aren’t even tony places. They are just the regular ones. The elite are cared for at home. |
Anonymous
I get what you’re saying but I don’t think that can even touch the problem. If the full $100 billion went towards Medicaid alone- and no where else - it won’t make a dent. Medicaid alone cost over $870 billion in 2023. Medicare cost $848 billion in 2023. Upping the tax rate on billionaires, while arbitrary, doesn’t cause me much heartburn. However, it won’t make any difference and we still have the same problem. |
Anonymous
No offense, but that's the way it's supposed to work. Medicaid is there when you have no money. You're supposed to save for retirement, spend your money on retirement. And if you run out, Medicaid is there. So many people want to hoard their money or pass it on to the next generation, while having Medicaid pay for their care. |