Financial cost for assisted living and memory care

Marta

People aren’t willing to vote for social assistance for families until it affects their own.

ElCy

It makes me crazy when I hear talk of forgiving student debt. It is taken on voluntarily. And we as tax payers should not have to pay that debt. Yet, those of us who have worked all our lives stand to lose so much because of this disease that we can not control.

Jo C.

Lynne, Medi-Cal does not place formal "liens" on one's house.  I had asked this question of liens of Medi-Cal Supervisors that work with such matters twice in our experience since my step-dad had been receiving Medi-Caid benefits in Long Term Care as had my mother.

The folks had a Trust, but step-dad died not long before the new 2017 rules came into play keeping the home exempt from recovery if there was a Trust. 

When step-dad died, we decided not to play any games.  Step-dad and my mother both benefitted from Medi-Caid which was a huge assistance to the parents and family and we were grateful for it.  They were granted the services, they benefitted greatly from the services AND as part of the process of application agreed to the recovery aspect..  Therefore; it was for us adult children, the ethical thing to do to pay back the recovery amount when the parent's small home was sold.

If no one paid back anything at that time the way Medi-Cal was funded, etc.;, then it boded very poorly for others in need in the future if assets were waiy down; why would we do that?  For us; just not right especially if it was to line our own pockets. 

So . . . we paid back the recovery amount, what was left was a small a amount and was divided amongst the four adult children. 

Today . . . a Trust - whoopee!  And the Medi-Caid laws are changing again and funding for Medi-Caid has evolved. 

The attached link gives specific, detailed information re California including the recovery process.  The laws last changed in 2017 and the booklet updated in 2019.  This booklet is put together by the Elder Law Attorneys at Californians Nursing  Home Reform - as laws change they are swift to change their writing:

http://www.canhr.org/publications/PDFs/Medi-Cal_Recovery.pdf

J.

DJnAZ

Crushed wrote:

 This is quite simply the most expensive and financially risky decision process in your life .  Its not what it costs its what you can lose

Think of not paying for a home inspection on a house purchase

Yes, Crushed, I get the point. But please keep in mind that not all of us have the financial ability to retain expensive legal representation. A home inspector's fee averages $300 while an elder law attorney's non-refundable retainer can be $3,000. Or more.

We all know that caring for a loved one with dementia is very difficult. Caring for  someone and trying to live on fixed income is even more difficult. I know it all too well.