I pay 44.00 month to get 80% off my meds. care is extraordinary here. I have been reading all your help and all your questions. Do yu not have caregiver coverage to pay you for at least 3 months. Do you not have assisted living facilities that you do pay about 1500.00 a month, meals, rec, chapel library, extraordinary care from a palliative team. you can rent a hospital bed for about 100.00 per month. Do you guys not have anything like this in the States? If you dont, my heart goes out to you, it must be so hard and exhausting. We even had the Dr who is head of the palliative care in our city at my home for at least 2 hours about 3 times now. and at the facility twice. Do you think the doctors in both countries have different priorities. Here, they make a controlled wage unlike the dentists who own gigantic homes because they can charge anything they want. Help me learn how your system works because I care, and I see so many people so lost in the system, they dont know how to get help or get out. I will try to do research to help you, if you want.
Medicare is the health care system for seniors in the U.S. It does not include long term care in a facility. That is the responsibility of the individual (or their family). This can be accomplished by purchasing 'long term care' insurance which is quite expensive, especially if it is purchased at older ages. The alternatives are private pay from savings. For those who require long term care and do not have the resources, applications to Medicaid (different than medicare) can be made. Medicaid is administered by the state and each state's rules vary.
There is some aid available to veterans and their spouses if qualify and they do not have the financial resources to pay for 'long term care'. In the NE part of the US assisted lifing facilities cost anywhere from $5-8,000/month. Skilled nursing facilities (nursing homes) runa anywhere from $10-13,000/month.
Many people only learn that this is their financial responsibilty too late. Then they are scrambling to figure out how to pay for the care. When they qualify for medicaid, it is the rest of the taxpayers that are paying for their loved one's care. Things like hospital beds and wheelchairs are covered by Medicare (health care). Room and meals and round the clock assistance are not covered by that.
Those from outside the US may see a lot of posts about how to 'hide assets' so that the family member qualifies for Medicaid. Some others feel that this is an abuse of the system leaving others to pay for care that the individual could well afford but choose to have others pay instead. AND in my observation, most (not all) facilities that accept medicaid patients are not as nice as the ones that do not - or tha ttake just a few medicaid residents.
With the baby boomers getting older, neither the US or Canada or European Union countries will be able to afford to care for this surge of potential seniors. the challenges will be massive.