It’s common knowledge that health care in the States can be
so ruinously expensive that people regularly go bankrupt trying to pay the
bills.
It’s not so well-known that care homes in Britain are also
ruinously expensive and people unlucky enough to need one can also end up
bankrupt from the scale of the charges.
My mum was in a care home for nine months in 2018 and was
paying around £3000 a month. I gather the charge nowadays could be around £1300
a week or £1500 if nursing care is included.
That staggering figure soon mounts up. For nine months now
she could have been paying over £50,000 ($68,000). How many people have that
kind of money to spare? Her local authority could have offered her some
financial help but it would be far below what she needed.
I look enviously at Sweden, where social care for oldies is
provided automatically and comprehensively by the state. Why can’t social care
in Britain be provided on the same basis? Obviously it should be part of the
national health service.
Meanwhile if granny needs long-term care, it could bleed you
dry.
We wait and wait for the paper on social care reform and still it doesn't come.
ReplyDeleteBoth my parents needed care in their final years, together in the same place - unbelievably expensive, as you can imagine. Plus, I started viewing social services as the SS as they were always phoning me up simply to be unhelpful.
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Ms Scarlet: Indeed, the much-heralded social care reform still doesn't happen, despite various governments promising reform.
DeleteIn the US for elderly without any funds Medicare pays the bill. I you own a house at end of your stay, mostly death the government gets what is owed, usually the entire value of the house. There are ways around this, as in putting the house in the name someone else far enough ahead of when it may happen. Whatever funds a person has is used to pay until it's gone. Medicare is one of the programs being cut by this administration.
ReplyDeleteSandra: Demanding the entire value of your house to pay your medical bills is outrageous. Brits often have to sell their house to pay care home fees.
DeleteOh, the games we have to play in the USA. My mother-in-law had early onset Alzheimers. My father-in-law sold their house and moved to one he put only in his name. Then he sold their car and bought one only in his name. He continued to care for her for years until he had a massive stroke. All this to get her assets down to where Medicaid would pay for her long term care once he could no longer care for her.
ReplyDeleteLinda
Linda: Changing the ownership of his house and car is cunning. I'm sure people get up to all sorts of tricks to cope with the vagaries of the US medical system.
DeleteWhen a couple from Calgary fell ill in the US their plight made the daily front page until they could get home. After they were safely back, they revealed that the hospital took X-rays on the last day because they didn't know if Canada did so, as Canada "has socialized medicine."
ReplyDeleteA US doctor wrote a book, "Dying of Whiteness" where he documented that white Americans don't want universal health care because then the Blacks would have health care too. Truly you can't hold a man down in the mud unless you get down there with him.
Sean: Socialised medicine, shock horror! I hadn't heard of that reason for not wanting universal health care. What will people think of next?
DeleteLinda described it perfectly. You cannot have any assets in order to have Medicaid pay for your long-term care. My mother's assisted living started at $4800/month and in two years was up to $5400. Her social security was only $1800/month. Fortunately, my parents had saved money, so we were okay, but it would have eventually run out. One of my friends recently had to switch assisted living facilities for her mother because her money had run out and not all places accept Medicaid.
ReplyDeleteThe majority of people who are against universal health care are concerned about no longer having a choice about providers as well as the wait time to see specialists and schedule procedures. I've read horror stories about needing surgery in Canada and having to wait over a year for it. And then, I've read other people who have had no issues. It's hard to know what to believe.
Bijoux: Thanks for all that information. It's terrible that people are expected to exhaust their savings simply to pay for assisted living. And the reasons why people oppose universal healthcare are interesting. Certainly the waiting times in the UK to see a consultant or have surgery are unbelievably long - often several years.
DeleteThat's what I can't fathom. If you need surgery, it's usually fairly urgent?? Are people just dying? That freaks me out.
DeleteBijoux: Yes, people are dying or getting sicker or suffering increasing pain waiting for medical attention. Putting the NHS right should be the government's number one priority but for some reason it isn't.
DeleteI am a senior in Canada. There are stories about waits, but no horror stories. Overall, people feel satisfied, or very satisfied. When we share about a relative in the States paying for treatment, it is always with a sense of shock. Once I said, "My God, that's what people would pay for a pet!"
ReplyDeleteSean: Yes, I've heard often about the extortionate prices for medical treatment and drugs in the States. I don't pay anything for prescription drugs as at my age I'm exempt from prescription charges.
DeleteMy mother in law was in a care home. My sister in law sold mother in laws home and used that to pay for her care which was $3000 a month while she was there. The rates are ridiculous.
ReplyDeleteMary: A lot of care homes in the UK have been bought up by big corporations and hedge funds that just want to make huge profits.
DeleteThe cost of long-term care anywhere is expensive, save for the country you mentioned, Nick, and perhaps a few others. But certainly the U.S. is not in that category and we hope to remain well enough to avoid any care home.
ReplyDelete