Jenny Damon (Edison): Medicaid Conundrum

   After years of caring for my mother with dementia in our home, it became necessary for my father and I to place her in a skilled nursing facility.  The cost of this care is approximately $6,300/month which my father pays from his savings.  It is not an upscale home and is actually the least expensive “skilled nursing home” that we could find.  Her needs require a restraint so that she doesn’t fall out of her wheelchair.  A less accredited facility, and therefore less costly, such as an “assisted living home” is not licensed to restrain at all.  Given these parameters, there are very few choices.  The other twenty residents on her wing are all on Medicaid, a joint federal/state funded program to help those in need without funds.  Medicaid is the largest source of funding for medical and health related services for people with limited income in the U.S.  It is a needs-based social welfare program with eligibility determined by income.  The nurses and staff caring for the patients within the nursing home do not know the difference between  who is private pay and who is not, and for this, I am grateful.  Hopefully, everyone is treated with dignity and respect regardless of funding.  Unfortunately, my father is not as forgiving of the system as he sees his life-long savings disappear.  He is unable to find rationale for why his sacrifice over his lifetime to save every dime he could results in such inequitable distribution of government funding (to which he has also contributed to all of his working life).  What is the motivation to save for your future when, had you not saved, the government will pay for your eventual needs anyway?  Many families have re-framed their economic plans based on this anticipated government intervention.   However, the federal and state governments cannot continue to support the growing number of elderly at this expense and the Medicaid program will be discontinued at a time when many families will be counting on it.  On November 25th, 2008, a new federal law was passed that allows states to charge premiums and higher co-payments to Medicaid participants.  Although this rule will increase state revenues, there is a major concern that it will dis-incentivize low income people to seek health care.  Many countries around the world are struggling as well and are racing to meet these growing long-term needs.  Each society chooses its own unique path to parity; to what degree is one’s wealth owed to the society at large.  What portion of that wealth is then given back in one’s old age to reduce the burden on society of one’s care under which they thrived?

This entry was posted on 15. June 2009 at 05:33 and is filed under Introduction to Sociology. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response or trackback from your own site.