I wonder why the OP thinks his father ought not have to pay for his care.
Moderating
That is bordering on a threadshit. Please watch it.
I expect you’ll find that they must be accounted for in the “look back” period before Medicaid will take over paying.
As someone said, if you start earlier, there are ways to convey money to others so that all the funds don’t have to be spent down. You can even do it kind of late in the process where you take money out and then there’s an exclusion period when Medicare won’t pay for a period of time. But I’m not sure if there’s much that can be done with only about a year’s funds left.
Definitely worth talking to an expert though.
Yeah, in fact you have to draw his assets down to some infinitesimal level before Medicare will even start caring for him fully. And even then, only in whatever dumps actually accept it.
I mean, it’s only 102k/ 1 year, or about 33k. Any way you slice it, it’s not very much.
ISTM the default notion for the kids is that all the money belongs to the parent(s). It is theirs to spend. An inheritance, while very nice, is not something to be counted on. It is up to the parent(s) to think about this long before it becomes an issue but not all will do that.
Also, I do not think a parent should count on their kids to support them financially in their old age.
I get this can be very divisive. My mom and her brother didn’t talk to each other for over a decade due to disagreements about the level of care their mother would receive (i.e. how much it would cost). Her brother expected in inheritance and was not happy when it was spent on his mother’s care when he thought there were less expensive options available.
I wish I could do multiple quotes on this phone. It’s all I’ve got at present because I’m doing what needs to be done in a foreign land regarding our retirement home, and it’s all I brought.
I’ve contacted a Medicaid lawyer at home but had no response yet.
Dad is very old and has led a full life. Sympathy is appreciated but isn’t really necessary. We kept him out of assisted living as long as possible. For a full year we took care of him in an apartment with very limited assistance.
We recently decided that we needed to have our lives back. That’s all I’m going to say. I don’t need your approval.
To those who have tried to be helpful, especially @chela, thank you. To those who have been nasty, and you know who you are, you can deduce what I’m thinking.
Mods, please close this thread.
The state can also make a claim against an estate to recover Medicaid money spent on the decedent’s care. So if there is money that goes into the estate that was not available to be spent before, it can be taken to pay back Medicaid.
Please close this thread. It has lived a full life and it’s time to pull the plug.
I’m going to go ahead and close this as per the request and as it has been a small bother in general. It seems to have run its course and is just begging for trouble at this point.