Reply to Where do older people go that don’t have money?

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[quote=Anonymous]My parents story is similar to PP.
Parents divorced when I was a teenager. At “retirement”, little savings. No home - sold in the divorce - and both lived with UMC friends (like golden girls, only not as ritzy). Both worked into their late 70s. 
My dad had signed up for low income senior housing run by Methodists way in advance. The first time his number came up, he declined. They kept him on the list. Then they said you must move in or lose the spot. He moved in. The place was well kept. It was not a nursing home - but independent senior living with a few “amenities” like the emergency button in the bathrooms, a cafeteria if you wanted to eat there (had to pay for each meal, but it was pretty cheap) and they kept track of residents coming and going so they could report anyone missing. 
He went downhill fast. He went blind due to a arterial condition. Sister took him in, but after 2 months he ended up with kidney failure due to the steroids they put him on.... My sister (thankfully!!) navigated all the options and he ended up in a Catholic nursing home. They took all his SS / Medicare but $75. The place was old, but it looked like they tried the best they could. My dad was lucky that most of my siblings would visit weekly (he lived out west). He died within a year.
My mom is still alive, living by herself off SS and very limited savings (down to $22k now). I pay a lot of her bills. Probably about $500 a month. My siblings send her some money to, or at least before COVID, but most lost their jobs. She is on a waitlist for low income senior housing.  And when it comes time for a nursing home, which isn’t far away, I’ll have to navigate the options.
Her prescriptions run $300 a month - after Medicare part D. We filled out a bunch of paperwork the last few months to qualify for reduced prescription cost from the manufacturers - but they keep getting rejected for missing some thing on the form or another. 
They had me late in life, and I started a family late... so I’m sandwich generation - raising kids (10 and 13) and taking care of a parent. She’s 83 and moved close to me because she has a lung condition and couldn’t live in high altitude anymore. I’m the only family nearby. It’s a huge burden. But I love her, and you take care of your family. 
My husband dislikes having her burden me - similar to what other PPs have stated about not wanting to burden their family. Luckily both my husband and I are retired military, so we will have income for life. And I have second career which will provide more in savings for our actual retirement.[/quote]

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