dagblog - Comments for "Elderly couple in apparent murder-suicide indicated they could not afford medical care"

Just a related reminder,

artappraiser — Wed, 14 Aug 2019 08:21:01 +0000

In reply to Elderly couple in apparent murder-suicide indicated they could not afford medical care

Just a related reminder, public service announcement type thing:

The U.S. Has the Most Expensive Healthcare System in the World https://t.co/YpKYRejqA8
— alain servais (@aservais1) August 13, 2019

Thanks Arta. I look at the

ocean-kat — Wed, 14 Aug 2019 00:02:57 +0000

In reply to psst, oceankat:

Thanks Arta. I look at the sites. I probably should do it before I'm confronted by the problem. But one should always lead with their strengths. Not to brag but I'm probably one of the best procrastinators in the world today. I'll probably go with putting it off til tomorrow. It's my go to solution to manage any problem.

psst, oceankat:

artappraiser — Tue, 13 Aug 2019 21:03:08 +0000

In reply to Thanks, I hoped something

psst, oceankat:

I am in the midst of resarching the issues dealing with my family about my 90-something dad being near the end. He's got good employer provided insurance for their retirees which has more than supplemented his Medicare. But we've now had to figure out the whole thing with nursing home coverage and Medicaid etc.

So in this process ran across this site, American Council for Aging, might be very helpful for you, like this page

https://www.medicaidplanningassistance.org/medicaid-eligibility-test/

they've got rules for each state.

In addition I have found the Elder Law site to be extremely helpful as regards all kinds of issues they had like this for as regards themselves and my disabled brother, I think I've used it many times over 20 years now, they got a great database of articles and keep up with what's new

https://www.elderlawanswers.com

Also just popped into my mind yesterday: hey, my dad is a WWII vet, maybe they give help too. My brother started looking into it, there are benefits you can access as long as you served time for 24 mos. and was honorably discharged. I recall you saying you served, so I'm just mentioning that too. It's looking like they are cutting budget a lot as of late, but you never know, the VA might still give just the kind of help you need.

No need to respond again.

Seniors have more household

artappraiser — Tue, 13 Aug 2019 20:42:13 +0000

In reply to Elderly couple in apparent murder-suicide indicated they could not afford medical care

Seniors have more household debt now than they did during the financial crisis

Debt has soared to record levels for older Americans, and it isn’t just because of mortgages

@ Marketwatch.com, Published: Aug 13, 2019 11:26 a.m. ET

Thanks, I hoped something

ocean-kat — Tue, 13 Aug 2019 06:02:36 +0000

In reply to You can definitely be covered

Thanks, I hoped something like that might be possible but planned to wait until I was 65 to deal with it. I'm so incredibly introverted that I wait inside my 4 walls until a crisis forces me to deal with the real world outside them. When I applied for SS a month ago the case worker explained Medicare to me. With the copays and deductibles it was obvious that Medicare was useless for me.

I'm not very ill at this point. Feeling pretty good now but it took surgery and 7 pills a day to get here. There is absolutely no way I can afford to pay for those pills. Medicaid does and hopefully it will continue after I'm 65

You can definitely be covered

artappraiser — Tue, 13 Aug 2019 05:31:57 +0000

In reply to I can stay on Medicaid for 3

You can definitely be covered by both at same time! No reason you should lose it unless your income is too high. It works different in each state, many have private managed care you have to pick from or a one state entity. Once you are on, it's only income level that can take you off. Medicaid subsidizes or supercedes the Medicare, but you get both. In most cases will cover the Medicare premium! You just won't have the choice of providers that one has with plain vanilla Medicare, it will be managed care somehow with a network. (But then hardly anyone can afford the plain vanilla Medicare with freedom to choose anymore, because of the co-pays with costs going so astronomical.)

I think the only problem one runs into is that for over 65 in some states it may be a lower income limit required than before 65, or asset liquidation because of the whole nursing home thing, how everyone uses spend down to no assets to get mom and pop poor so Medicaid will pay for the nursing home? Not sure about that, though.

I won't say who it is, but there is a member here at Dag who is over 65 and gets both Medicaid and Medicare, as well getting some help with housing, we've discussed it privately. Is fairly happy with it. Maybe the person will chime in.

My mentally disabled brother gets both too, has for 20 yrs. One good thing Medicaid adds to Medicare for him in his state is basic dental and basic eye care (and I am talking very very basic, but at least it's something.)

This couple probably was in a situation where they had above Medicaid income but the co-pays and deductibles with Medicare started to get way out of hand and they are charging them on credit cards and robbing Peter to pay Paul, because you think "my health is everything, worry about it later" and having trouble with supplemental's not authorizing and they pay out of pocket and before you know it they are underwater and with more bills coming in. With some of them unfair, but people are frightened into paying for them. And you can't just apply for benefits all of a sudden, you've got to have like Form 1040 proof or file bankruptcy, things that take time. Thing is: where it gets pretty hopeless in this mess when you are ill, unless you have like a good social worker or similar helping you because navigating this shit is a hellavu lotta work and you sure don't have the energy for that when you are very ill.

I can stay on Medicaid for 3

ocean-kat — Tue, 13 Aug 2019 05:03:44 +0000

In reply to If you are on Medicaid and

I can stay on Medicaid for 3 years even though I'm taking SS at 62. If I lose Medicaid when I'm 65 I'll be in trouble. Very deep trouble like this elderly couple. Medicaid at my income level is better than Medicare. It fucking pays for everything. Which I need because I'm so poor. It might be possible that with my low income I'll be able to stay on Medicaid after 65 and not be forced on Medicare. But if that can happen for me why didn't it happen for this elderly couple? Honestly, I may seem to be well read and smart but I'm psychologically very very bad at dealing with strangers and bureaucracy. But I don't want to get into that. I just wanted to add a personal note to support Arta's discussion of the failures of Medicare. Thanks for caring though

If you are on Medicaid and

CVille Dem — Tue, 13 Aug 2019 03:42:05 +0000

In reply to I'm 62 and I just applied for

If you are on Medicaid and are not yet 65, why don’t you stay on Medicaid? It gives better benefits, and the longer you wait to get on SS, the more you will get per month. If you are applying for SS for a disability you should get the same amount that you are due at 65.

i have no doubt that you have done your due diligence on this, but seriously, I got so much bad information, and eventually got more because I just kept challenging them. They aren’t all really aware of the law.

Please repost on this. What you describe is an outrage! I really want to know how you are doing.

P.S. One of the major catch

artappraiser — Sun, 11 Aug 2019 16:05:53 +0000

In reply to I feel your pain and really

P.S. One of the major catch 22's is that someone smart with both Medicaid and Medicare can figure out how to lessen the costs and still get decent care and what you need, but doing that is more than a full time job and leaves no time to work for money. Older people with lots of kids have the kids pitching in with the time needed to manipulate the system (to the detriment of their own lives and where they themselves are often going paycheck to paycheck) but those who don't have kids willing to do that will have to juggle doing this all alone. Was just thinking: gonna be a lot more homeless sick singleton boomers on the streets than just Vietnam vets soon if the rent situation doesn't improve....rent rising astronomically everywhere is going to be the straw that broke the camel's back.

I feel your pain and really

artappraiser — Sun, 11 Aug 2019 15:56:24 +0000

In reply to I'm 62 and I just applied for

I feel your pain and really appreciate the sharing of up close and personal for more evidence that everything is not as hunky dory as many claim, that it's not just a media plot to tell bad stories about wonderful Medicare and Social Security.

I'm in a slightly different but not dissimilar situation-must work part time til I die as SS will never be enough and must stay healthy enough to do so, which sometimes seems impossible with our health care system, so I totally get it.

Sounds to me like you've got to research what states give good Medicaid/Medicare combos and move there. But it won't help right away, not until you're a resident, so there's that too to consider.