What happens if my 98-year-old mother in memory care out lives her money? All she has is money from sale of condo and social security.

She spends her assets for care and if it runs out, applies for Medicaid whereby her Social security income will be used towards the cost of her long term care. She'll get to keep a small amount of her monthly SS check for personal items. If her current MC does not accept Medicaid, she'll have to relocate to a Medicaid approved SNF or other long term care facility.

I don't have the answer to the original poster's question, but many of these replies only add to the fear and confusion he/she must be feeling. Unless we have some hard facts to help the questioner move forward with a solution to this particular problem, maybe we should reconsider our own posting.

I've read that some "better" facilities may accept medicaid if a resident has been able to self pay for a number of years, that might be something to ask about as you look for the best facility.

In many - most? - memory cares and ALFs, when the money runs out the person leaves. Low income nursing homes and dumping at the ER so that the person becomes a "resident" at the hospital take over. Hospitals are becoming like they were back in the olden days when the rich stayed far far away from hospitals because they were awful places.

And it's not going to get better anytime soon in this country for anyone. The squeeze is on and hard across all age groups. The rich have been getting richer for years now while the poor get poorer. And who enabled that transfer of wealth? The politicians!

Vote? Do you really believe the corrupt politicians are going to throw their wealthy benefactors aside for you, for ordinary voters? If you believe that, I have a bridge to sell you in Brooklyn.

Read the news. Layoffs at all levels. McDonald's is laying off mid-level executives!

Chicago - you said it best: The. Rich. Are. Winning. Bill Gates is one of if not the biggest owners of farmland land in the country.

This all makes me want to watch George Carlin.

You have all the answers here below. MC is so costly. Few facilities that have ALF and a moveup to MC allow clients to stay after the money runs out, and this is usually on the contract and pointed out to you when you go in. When the money is gone, so are you. SOME facilities, however, do allow medicaid patients who are residents for some period of time to stay. It is likely too late for you at this point to check on this if your Mom is already in a facility that you like, and her funds are running low.

So it would be simply the application to medicaid, and probably a move to a facility that accepts medicaid. In our reality today in the USA that often means a less nice facility, a less well staffed facility, hence less safe for the elder. You have a 98 year old loved elder now receiving good care; try not to predict the future. We have an aging population that still votes. We can hope things get better in elder care. We can hope.

In Virginia…you have to qualify for a nursing home..Dementia alone does NOT qualify you. You must fail at many daily living skills. Medicaid does not pay for memory care or assisted living. My mom goes broke in 18 months..if her health stays this good I have been told I will need to care for her myself because she does not qualify for a NH..…I will bring her home to my subsidized apartment situation and see if the state/Virginia medicaid will give us some part time nursing help in my home....I am 72 with major back issues. Moms 89…scary future ahead.. it could last 5-10yrs…..thank God for counseling!

I am my aunt's sole caregiver. She is in a very nice ALF right now, bedridden, with dementia but will be out of money by the end of the year, at which time she'd have to leave. (They told me they don't take Medicaid.) I can move her to a smaller room which would only delay the inevitable, but I've been told by another resident's family that "arrangements can be made" for her to stay. This couple exchanged a look, but wouldn't expand on the comment, just told me to talk to mgmt. Since my aunt lives one state over from me (an hour's drive), if she has to leave her beautiful ALF, the best alternative near me is a veteran's home (my uncle was WWII), which will take Medicaid but her room would be tiny and I'm afraid she'd become depressed and I'd lose her. It's bad enough dealing with her dementia. I've already applied for her Medicaid in my state, but what happens if her ALF "quietly" takes Medicaid after all, and she needs it in HER state?? I'd have to start all over. This whole process is overwhelming, and I just want the best for her. Thank you for listening....

Seek input from an attorney specialized in " Elder Law". You may be able to head off a lot of stuff by getting the information from this type of source. Most people are not aware of all of the nuances of aging and affording it and, protection for both the aging family member and the family . Seek professional input, usually an " Elder Law" attorney is a good start.

This country’s “care”system is criminal. I’m taking my mom out of the country where they have assisted living memory care and hospice at 1/3 of the price should she ever need it. Not letting these people burn through my parents’ hard-earned money. She will be happier there anyway.

I helped a lady friend (already on social security) after a broken hip surgery at the hospital go into a nursing home for rehabilitation. Her therapy lasted six weeks and they could not improve her condition more than that. She would always be in a wheelchair due to deteriorating bones. While in the rehabilitation/nursing home, the hospital social services in coordination with the nursing home social services got her transitioned from short term care to long term care after therapy ended. They also got her on Medicaid because she made under a thousand dollars a month-although she did own her home and had no mortgage. She went in and out of four different surgeries for two years. After each time that she came home, Social Services would end her long term care in the rehabilitation/nursing home facilities. Her insurance would cover so many months of long term care each time she went in. While she was in the nursing home after her last surgical procedure, I wrote to Social Services headquarters saying that she would return home once she had recovered. (She had contracted Covid from the hospital and almost died after the procedure). This letter prevented Social Services from using her home as collateral or taking it for any payment. She improved a bit for awhile and the Nursing Home was trying to set up some home care through her Medicaid after her discharge. There was a long waiting list. I believe it was due to Covid. I am not sure if it is much better now. Her health would go up and down some, but she was mostly declining in health and mind. She would always yell out to the nurses. I want to go home! I had already had POA, Medical Directive, and a Will on her a few years prior. The Nursing Facility decided to send her home after nine months. I agreed to help her some. Three weeks before being released, she contracted the Norovirus. She stopped eating almost completely and passed away three weeks before her planned discharge. If she had lived, the funds in the bank would have had to be spent down to keep her in the facility. She did have some, but we had to use it towards a deductible for a bad flood in the home and to make her home more livable with her water and septic situation. In my letter to Social Services, I also explained about her unacceptable living conditions in her home and the repairs were making so that it would not be condemned. It was that bad! Spending her money on home improvements was an acceptable expenditure to Social Services. I do feel that the letters that I wrote to Social Services and her money spent on making improvements to her home to make it livable prevented her from having her home liquidated for cash as payment/even at the end. I also wrote many letters to the last nursing facility about her physical and mental state, requesting different tests and evaluations before sending her home. She was too sick to go home and I knew that she would never be able to care for herself. She had been on oxygen almost full time since Covid, could not go to the bathroom by herself, and was not able to prepare foods for herself. Yet, the facility still had decided to discharge her without securing any home Aids through her Medicaid. At the end, she decided not to fight any longer and Hospice was called in the last ten days to the nursing home before her death. She was only 63 pounds. Additionally, I do believe that if other family members are living in the home, they can not be used it for payment. The Nursing facilities can and will request payment after death if there is money. I live in Virginia and this was my experience. I recommend looking up the laws for your state and having the POA write letters and being the best advocate possible. The battle was worth it if you have the energy and time. You will learn a lot too. Hopefully, eventually, the residence can be available for family members that need a place to live. All the best!