Between September 2011 and Jan 2012 he rah up overt $50,000 in medical bills His only insurance was medicare a.. He is now is a nursing home, has no assets. As of 1/1/2012 he is on medi-cal. All his social security goes to the nursing home + I pay a small amount to cover his care. I have Parkinson's Disease and will need increasingly more in home help, and most likely a nursing home if I cannot afford adequate in home help. My monthly income barely covers expenses.I have paid about $20,000 of his bills with about $30,000 still owed.To pay the remaining amount would take a huge bite of my small savings. I have adequate medical insurance for myself, but was not able to get long term care because of my PD.
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We came into this world as separate individuals with separate S.S. numbers and separate DNA. When my husband passed away, I did not pay one penny of his credit card bills.
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$300.00/hr and it was well worth it. You need legal advice and ASAP
Stop paying on the $50,000 debt. My grandmother had Parkinsons AND Alzheimers and I took her in to live with me and cared for her (I work from home) and you will definitely be having plenty of needs of your own when you cannot work. Our veterinarian has Parkinson's and the meds are quite pricey. He intends to work as long as he can (we have known him for 5 years) but is saving for the future.
Your state department of Human Services and your local United Way offices can give you info on services available to you and all states have free legal services available to elders who need it. One of my friends was in a similar situation and she had to divorce her husband in order to get free of the debt and to get certain benefits. It's disgraceful for people to be put in such a position. Hugs to you. Do see a lawyer. You definitely need someone on board to help.
You are considered a "community spouse" as as such can retain a certain amount of assets over the minimum assets and income your DH can and be on Medicaid. All of how exactly is works depends on how each state does it's Medicaid program. The medical debt could be just his or a joint debt but you really need good legal to work this out. Personally I wouldn't pay any more on the 30K owed until you see an attorney can come up with a plan for both your husband's needs and more importantly your needs for the future and what kind of letter to be sent to the medical providers he owns $ to.
Take the time to get all your paperwork together: his & your SS statements, any retirement income or annuity info; current bank statements, life insurance policies.
Property and all asset info. All debts & be sure to include health insurance costs and prescription costs.If you all were married before the name and divorce info on that and all on any children. Current will and POA's as the attorney will likely want to restructure that. Figure out who to be your new POA's and update will to reflect changes from when it was written.
One thing that most couples don't think about is what happens if the "healthy" one dies before the NH one does. The NH one could end up inheriting $ or property owned by the healthy one that throws them off Medicaid and they are capable to doing anything about it because of their medical condition. This is very sad situation but you kinda have to plan for that and a good elder care attorney does.
Good luck and keep a sense of humor.