Why save for retirement if medicaid will cover your costs!?!?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The plan from the house is to make people pay for more of their healthcare once in Medicare. That amount is about 200k. Shhhhh it will be applied only to people under 55. So make sure you put an additional 200k away on top of your other retirement savings.

Source please.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This thread is terrifying.

Even with money (my mother still had almost a million dollars when she died), it is terrifying.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is a depressing thread.

Instead of OP's frustration, mine is more that middle income people are put in a rough spot. They have saved enough to not qualify for certain programs, but they still don't have enough for good options. So their only course of option is to find a mediocre facility and ride it out until their money runs out and hope medicaid then picks up the rest.

Given how much it took to scrimp and save what they did save, it feels like a disappointment that all the sacrifice they made still only gets them to the same place as people who didn't save at all -- a facility covered by medicaid.

But no, the solution isn't to NOT save. Because then it might be harder to get in the door to that medicaid facility. At least if you have something saved, you can get in the door. But I agree that it must be disappointing to realize that is what you sacrificed for all through life.

But I'm inclined to think that part of the problem is expectation. I think for my parents' generation, there was way too much emphasis put on retirement as the goal of working. Early retirement. Retirement and traveling. RVs. Retiring to Florida. et cetera, et cetera. I listened for years to people pine away for retirement. Honestly, I think it's better to see retirement as a stage of life, not a goal. Plan and prepare for it, but don't live for it.

You described the situation exactly. I am having a terrible time finding a medicaid facility with a bed available. They want at least a year of private pay to consider us, not just a month as we offered to pay for a month. It sucks. We are caring for a relative in our home as we have no options right now and are not sure how we are going to make it all work.

Find a facility that will take them "Medicaid pending"
And do not sign anything, nothing saying you are responsible for any finances. They will come after you.
Just went thru this with a recently deceased indigent relative.

Any suggestions in MoCo? We actually are through the process and paperwork is in. The county worker has been helpful with their paperwork side of things. One I have spent months working with and now we need a bed asap, they are playing games saying none are available and they have a waiting list of up to one year, if not longer (one of the really big ones). We would not have moved our relative here, into our home, had we had known it would be a year. We would have made another plan. Others just outright refused to accept the application and some accepted it but made it clear no beds were available or would be available.

I have no intention of signing anything. Thanks for that warning. I'll have another family member who is a lawyer look over anything we would have to sign.

So sorry, but my relative was in another state.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is a depressing thread.

Instead of OP's frustration, mine is more that middle income people are put in a rough spot. They have saved enough to not qualify for certain programs, but they still don't have enough for good options. So their only course of option is to find a mediocre facility and ride it out until their money runs out and hope medicaid then picks up the rest.

Given how much it took to scrimp and save what they did save, it feels like a disappointment that all the sacrifice they made still only gets them to the same place as people who didn't save at all -- a facility covered by medicaid.

But no, the solution isn't to NOT save. Because then it might be harder to get in the door to that medicaid facility. At least if you have something saved, you can get in the door. But I agree that it must be disappointing to realize that is what you sacrificed for all through life.

But I'm inclined to think that part of the problem is expectation. I think for my parents' generation, there was way too much emphasis put on retirement as the goal of working. Early retirement. Retirement and traveling. RVs. Retiring to Florida. et cetera, et cetera. I listened for years to people pine away for retirement. Honestly, I think it's better to see retirement as a stage of life, not a goal. Plan and prepare for it, but don't live for it.

You described the situation exactly. I am having a terrible time finding a medicaid facility with a bed available. They want at least a year of private pay to consider us, not just a month as we offered to pay for a month. It sucks. We are caring for a relative in our home as we have no options right now and are not sure how we are going to make it all work.

Find a facility that will take them "Medicaid pending"
And do not sign anything, nothing saying you are responsible for any finances. They will come after you.
Just went thru this with a recently deceased indigent relative.

Any suggestions in MoCo? We actually are through the process and paperwork is in. The county worker has been helpful with their paperwork side of things. One I have spent months working with and now we need a bed asap, they are playing games saying none are available and they have a waiting list of up to one year, if not longer (one of the really big ones). We would not have moved our relative here, into our home, had we had known it would be a year. We would have made another plan. Others just outright refused to accept the application and some accepted it but made it clear no beds were available or would be available.

I have no intention of signing anything. Thanks for that warning. I'll have another family member who is a lawyer look over anything we would have to sign.

So sorry, but my relative was in another state.

Was your relative in PA? I've read that PA does tend to go after family members when the person dies.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is a depressing thread.

Instead of OP's frustration, mine is more that middle income people are put in a rough spot. They have saved enough to not qualify for certain programs, but they still don't have enough for good options. So their only course of option is to find a mediocre facility and ride it out until their money runs out and hope medicaid then picks up the rest.

Given how much it took to scrimp and save what they did save, it feels like a disappointment that all the sacrifice they made still only gets them to the same place as people who didn't save at all -- a facility covered by medicaid.

But no, the solution isn't to NOT save. Because then it might be harder to get in the door to that medicaid facility. At least if you have something saved, you can get in the door. But I agree that it must be disappointing to realize that is what you sacrificed for all through life.

But I'm inclined to think that part of the problem is expectation. I think for my parents' generation, there was way too much emphasis put on retirement as the goal of working. Early retirement. Retirement and traveling. RVs. Retiring to Florida. et cetera, et cetera. I listened for years to people pine away for retirement. Honestly, I think it's better to see retirement as a stage of life, not a goal. Plan and prepare for it, but don't live for it.

You described the situation exactly. I am having a terrible time finding a medicaid facility with a bed available. They want at least a year of private pay to consider us, not just a month as we offered to pay for a month. It sucks. We are caring for a relative in our home as we have no options right now and are not sure how we are going to make it all work.

Find a facility that will take them "Medicaid pending"
And do not sign anything, nothing saying you are responsible for any finances. They will come after you.
Just went thru this with a recently deceased indigent relative.

Any suggestions in MoCo? We actually are through the process and paperwork is in. The county worker has been helpful with their paperwork side of things. One I have spent months working with and now we need a bed asap, they are playing games saying none are available and they have a waiting list of up to one year, if not longer (one of the really big ones). We would not have moved our relative here, into our home, had we had known it would be a year. We would have made another plan. Others just outright refused to accept the application and some accepted it but made it clear no beds were available or would be available.

I have no intention of signing anything. Thanks for that warning. I'll have another family member who is a lawyer look over anything we would have to sign.

So sorry, but my relative was in another state.

I will extend my warning about signing anything.
READ CAREFULLY, some things are worded like 'not financially responsible, except for those things for which we are financially responsible'
They will send bills in their name to you.
DO NOT SAY YOU ARE FINANCIAL POA.
My relative was in the hospital then rehab, so the basically HAD to find a place, because they wanted his bed.
In some desperate cases, if the person is already in the hospital you have to distance yourself ... Let the hospital social worker do all the work . If the person was homeless of had no family, they would have to find a facility.
It is sad, but true. But the care in a lot of these places is poor. Best of luck.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is a depressing thread.

Instead of OP's frustration, mine is more that middle income people are put in a rough spot. They have saved enough to not qualify for certain programs, but they still don't have enough for good options. So their only course of option is to find a mediocre facility and ride it out until their money runs out and hope medicaid then picks up the rest.

Given how much it took to scrimp and save what they did save, it feels like a disappointment that all the sacrifice they made still only gets them to the same place as people who didn't save at all -- a facility covered by medicaid.

But no, the solution isn't to NOT save. Because then it might be harder to get in the door to that medicaid facility. At least if you have something saved, you can get in the door. But I agree that it must be disappointing to realize that is what you sacrificed for all through life.

But I'm inclined to think that part of the problem is expectation. I think for my parents' generation, there was way too much emphasis put on retirement as the goal of working. Early retirement. Retirement and traveling. RVs. Retiring to Florida. et cetera, et cetera. I listened for years to people pine away for retirement. Honestly, I think it's better to see retirement as a stage of life, not a goal. Plan and prepare for it, but don't live for it.

You described the situation exactly. I am having a terrible time finding a medicaid facility with a bed available. They want at least a year of private pay to consider us, not just a month as we offered to pay for a month. It sucks. We are caring for a relative in our home as we have no options right now and are not sure how we are going to make it all work.

Find a facility that will take them "Medicaid pending"
And do not sign anything, nothing saying you are responsible for any finances. They will come after you.
Just went thru this with a recently deceased indigent relative.

Any suggestions in MoCo? We actually are through the process and paperwork is in. The county worker has been helpful with their paperwork side of things. One I have spent months working with and now we need a bed asap, they are playing games saying none are available and they have a waiting list of up to one year, if not longer (one of the really big ones). We would not have moved our relative here, into our home, had we had known it would be a year. We would have made another plan. Others just outright refused to accept the application and some accepted it but made it clear no beds were available or would be available.

I have no intention of signing anything. Thanks for that warning. I'll have another family member who is a lawyer look over anything we would have to sign.

So sorry, but my relative was in another state.

Was your relative in PA? I've read that PA does tend to go after family members when the person dies.

Yes, but they did not sue me. I don't think it was worth it for them, would have cost more than was owed.
They contacted me often, but there was no estate, no assets. Can't get something from nothing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is a depressing thread.

Instead of OP's frustration, mine is more that middle income people are put in a rough spot. They have saved enough to not qualify for certain programs, but they still don't have enough for good options. So their only course of option is to find a mediocre facility and ride it out until their money runs out and hope medicaid then picks up the rest.

Given how much it took to scrimp and save what they did save, it feels like a disappointment that all the sacrifice they made still only gets them to the same place as people who didn't save at all -- a facility covered by medicaid.

But no, the solution isn't to NOT save. Because then it might be harder to get in the door to that medicaid facility. At least if you have something saved, you can get in the door. But I agree that it must be disappointing to realize that is what you sacrificed for all through life.

But I'm inclined to think that part of the problem is expectation. I think for my parents' generation, there was way too much emphasis put on retirement as the goal of working. Early retirement. Retirement and traveling. RVs. Retiring to Florida. et cetera, et cetera. I listened for years to people pine away for retirement. Honestly, I think it's better to see retirement as a stage of life, not a goal. Plan and prepare for it, but don't live for it.

You described the situation exactly. I am having a terrible time finding a medicaid facility with a bed available. They want at least a year of private pay to consider us, not just a month as we offered to pay for a month. It sucks. We are caring for a relative in our home as we have no options right now and are not sure how we are going to make it all work.

Find a facility that will take them "Medicaid pending"
And do not sign anything, nothing saying you are responsible for any finances. They will come after you.
Just went thru this with a recently deceased indigent relative.

Any suggestions in MoCo? We actually are through the process and paperwork is in. The county worker has been helpful with their paperwork side of things. One I have spent months working with and now we need a bed asap, they are playing games saying none are available and they have a waiting list of up to one year, if not longer (one of the really big ones). We would not have moved our relative here, into our home, had we had known it would be a year. We would have made another plan. Others just outright refused to accept the application and some accepted it but made it clear no beds were available or would be available.

I have no intention of signing anything. Thanks for that warning. I'll have another family member who is a lawyer look over anything we would have to sign.

So sorry, but my relative was in another state.

I will extend my warning about signing anything.
READ CAREFULLY, some things are worded like 'not financially responsible, except for those things for which we are financially responsible'
They will send bills in their name to you.
DO NOT SAY YOU ARE FINANCIAL POA.
My relative was in the hospital then rehab, so the basically HAD to find a place, because they wanted his bed.
In some desperate cases, if the person is already in the hospital you have to distance yourself ... Let the hospital social worker do all the work . If the person was homeless of had no family, they would have to find a facility.
It is sad, but true. But the care in a lot of these places is poor. Best of luck.

Meant to say not financially responsible for which you are financially responsible.
They want their money .

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is a depressing thread.

Instead of OP's frustration, mine is more that middle income people are put in a rough spot. They have saved enough to not qualify for certain programs, but they still don't have enough for good options. So their only course of option is to find a mediocre facility and ride it out until their money runs out and hope medicaid then picks up the rest.

Given how much it took to scrimp and save what they did save, it feels like a disappointment that all the sacrifice they made still only gets them to the same place as people who didn't save at all -- a facility covered by medicaid.

But no, the solution isn't to NOT save. Because then it might be harder to get in the door to that medicaid facility. At least if you have something saved, you can get in the door. But I agree that it must be disappointing to realize that is what you sacrificed for all through life.

But I'm inclined to think that part of the problem is expectation. I think for my parents' generation, there was way too much emphasis put on retirement as the goal of working. Early retirement. Retirement and traveling. RVs. Retiring to Florida. et cetera, et cetera. I listened for years to people pine away for retirement. Honestly, I think it's better to see retirement as a stage of life, not a goal. Plan and prepare for it, but don't live for it.

You described the situation exactly. I am having a terrible time finding a medicaid facility with a bed available. They want at least a year of private pay to consider us, not just a month as we offered to pay for a month. It sucks. We are caring for a relative in our home as we have no options right now and are not sure how we are going to make it all work.

Find a facility that will take them "Medicaid pending"
And do not sign anything, nothing saying you are responsible for any finances. They will come after you.
Just went thru this with a recently deceased indigent relative.

Any suggestions in MoCo? We actually are through the process and paperwork is in. The county worker has been helpful with their paperwork side of things. One I have spent months working with and now we need a bed asap, they are playing games saying none are available and they have a waiting list of up to one year, if not longer (one of the really big ones). We would not have moved our relative here, into our home, had we had known it would be a year. We would have made another plan. Others just outright refused to accept the application and some accepted it but made it clear no beds were available or would be available.

I have no intention of signing anything. Thanks for that warning. I'll have another family member who is a lawyer look over anything we would have to sign.

So sorry, but my relative was in another state.

Was your relative in PA? I've read that PA does tend to go after family members when the person dies.

It is a filial responsibility state, but every facility is not suing.. not necessarily a trend.

[Anonymous]

It's doubtful your relatives will qualify for medicaid, please be aware that Medicare STOPs any type of nursing home support at 100 days. This happened to a friend of mine whose husband had had a stroke and never recovered. He was on life support. She visited an elder law specialist and she recommended - now this is for State of CA, a community proeprty state - that wife divorce husband if it appeared he was approaching the 100 day mark. After that, the state of CA would expect her to start using the remainder of her assets, sell off property, sell off second (modest) vacation home in palm springs, then primary home. She had at least 20 years to go for herself so couldn't afford bankruptcy. She went to a divorce lawyer and had the papers drawn up. Her beloved husband had a heart attack on the 99th day and died peacefully. A really horrible experience for her. SAVE SAVE SAVE. I doubt much of Medicaid or Medicare will be left by the time some of us need it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
The plan from the house is to make people pay for more of their healthcare once in Medicare. That amount is about 200k. Shhhhh it will be applied only to people under 55. So make sure you put an additional 200k away on top of your other retirement savings.


Source please.

Have you ever heard of google? One of many
http://www.americanprogressaction.org/issues/healthcare/report/2012/08/24/33915/increased-costs-during-retirement-under-the-romney-ryan-medicare-plan/

...For seniors who will become eligible for Medicare after 2022, the financial harm would be even worse.
Increasingly unaffordable costs for all seniors who qualify for Medicare after 2022. For seniors turning 65 in 2023, Medicare costs during retirement would increase by $59,500 in 2012 dollars under the Romney-Ryan plan. Because under the Romney-Ryan plan the amount of seniors’ vouchers will not keep pace with rising health care costs, these numbers are even worse for future generations. In today’s dollars seniors who qualify for Medicare in 2030 would see an increase of $124,600 in Medicare costs over their retirement. Seniors who qualify for Medicare in 2040 will see an increase of $216,600. And by 2050 newly eligible seniors will pay $331,200 more in Medicare costs over their retirement.
Additional costs from private plans cherry picking healthier patients. Three-fourths of all Medicare beneficiaries are currently in traditional Medicare. The Romney-Ryan plan would include traditional Medicare as an option in the proposed program, but the costs for seniors who choose to remain in the traditional Medicare program would likely increase even more sharply than for seniors who chose a private plan. Most analysts expect the traditional Medicare plan to attract Medicare beneficiaries with the greatest health needs. In that case, Medicare would no longer enjoy a balanced risk pool and seniors choosing traditional Medicare could wind up paying an extra $29,000 on average over their retirement lifetime above and beyond the costs described above...