"brooklyn1" > wrote in message
...
> On Thu, 24 Sep 2009 10:09:12 -0500, "MaryL"
> -OUT-THE-LITTER> wrote:
>
>>
>>"brooklyn1" > wrote in message
. ..
>>> On Wed, 23 Sep 2009 21:50:52 -0700 (PDT), "
>>>
>>> That's not true, age has nothing to do with how folks pay, in fact
>>> older folks have most of the disposable income and are more apt to pay
>>> using all methods. And the elderly in nursing homes have all their
>>> finances assigned, the home receives their SS check and pension check
>>> electronically, the elderly in nursing homes don't handle much money,
>>> they are permitted a small allowance for incidentals that are
>>> typically paid for with cash, candy bar machine, manicurist,
>>> newspapers, magazines, bingo.
>>>
>>>
>>
>>Actually, there's a wide variety of how funds are handled in nursing
>>homes.
>>My mother was not able to handle her finances, but nothing was assigned.
>>She was a private pay patient, and I took care of everything. I wrote
>>checks to the nursing home each month, to pharmacy for her prescriptions,
>>and to other places for incidentals. She had her own income, which
>>usually
>>paid her expenses--it took careful budgeting, but I was usually able to
>>handle everything out of her pension and Social Security. On occasions
>>when
>>she was hospitalized or had to use ambulance frequently, I would have to
>>transfer money out of her savings (which were rather meagre). This is
>>another reason why I like to write checks for some items--I was careful
>>never to intermingle her funds with mine, and I always wrote checks on her
>>account to pay for her expenses (I had power of attorney). I kept very
>>careful records of all of her expenses. Fortunately, my siblings were
>>always very supportive and never questioned anything (far different from
>>much of what I saw). By contrast, my mother's roommate was on Medicaid.
>>He
>>expenses were paid for by Medicaid, and there were not funds at all to
>>"assign." The woman in the room next-door took care of everything
>>herself.
>>She was alert, competent, had her own funds, but was no longer able to
>>live
>>alone. Again, none of her funds were assigned. Incidentally, I was my
>>mother's sole caregiver for 5 years when she lived with me. She was in
>>the
>>nursing home for another 5-1/2 years, and then I was her advocate and
>>"responsible person." It was obvious that patients who had someone to
>>speak
>>on their behalf got better care than those who did not. Very unfair, but
>>true. Mother died two years ago at the age of 91.
>>
>>MaryL
>
> Most don't have funds to pay as they go, least not for very long. And
> those whose health is failing and who do have sizeable assets
> typically want to give their assets to relatives, friends, and
> institutions of their own choosing rather than spend it all on nursing
> home care. In the US by Federal Law they have three years before
> entering a nursing home to dispense their assets as they see fit and
> can hold a small savings account of like $5,000 for burial expences...
> the IRS will go back three years and if any sizable monies were
> dispenced they will need to be repaid. Having POA doesn't
> necessarilly mean you were her legal guardian. Your mother was
> fortunate (I suppose) to have survived in a nursing home for over 5
> years, and to have the funds to do so. Nursing homes are rated as to
> ones ability to care for oneself... homes for those who are not
> ambulatory and need special care can be quite costly... your mom was
> probably fairly wealthy and/or not very ill.

My mother was not wealthy at all, and she was very ill. I took care of her
in my home for 5 years, until she became completely bedridden. After that,
it was essential for her to have personnel who could turn her, bathe her,
etc., not to mention actual nursing duties. My mother had a pension from
her 32 years of teaching, and she had Social Security. The two of them
together basically covered her nursing home fees with just enough left over
for prescriptions. She had a small savings account (and I do mean *small*).
I tried to avoid dipping into that because I did not want her ever to have
to be under Medicaid--I wanted us to be able to make decisions for quality
of care. Fortunately, I was able to do that. I had to withdraw from her
savings for certain additional expenses such as some ambulance and hospital
bills, but there was a small amount left after she died, which was divided
among the three of us (my brother and sister, and myself). She was in a
nursing home where the fees were a set amount, regardless of the care
needed. That is, she did not even enter the nursing home until she was
completely bedridden, but the fees would be the same whether she was
ambulatory or in bed. That is not true for many nursing homes--I have a
friend whose mother was in a nursing home much like you described, and they
would manage to increase her fees even for the smallest change in her care.
I can guarantee that my mother received better care as a result of the
constant monitoring I did. In fact, her doctor came to me after she died
and told me that if I ever needed help, I could go to him at any time
because (he said) I "took such extraordinary care of my mother." I thought
that was a very unusual step, but he clearly recognized some of the steps I
took. Incidentally, this is not a complaint--merely a restatement that
patients who have advocates working on their behalf do receive better care.
I even became a sort of advocate for Mother's roommate because she was on
Medicaid and did not have any family. I succeeded in forcing the nursing
home staff to make a number of changes in her care and upgrade the quality
of care she received.

MaryL