My family is facing the hard decision of looking for long-term care for my brother. Nursing homes are so expensive--how do you pay?

hours, was wonderful. Start making some phone calls and see if you have that option where you live. It's SO much better then the nursing home in my opinion. Although I know that it's not going to work for everyone. :)

Here in Oregon there seems to be a lot of adult foster care homes opened up in the last 10 years I'd say. When my father-in-law got sick 5 years ago and spent a week in the hospital, we were told he wasn't gonna make it. Instead of a nursing home to spend his last days/weeks/months we were told by either the hospital or the Kaiser insurance liaison (can't remember for sure) that there was another choice instead of a nursing home, and that was an Adult Foster Care Home. This lady at the hospital had a list of homes that had been checked out by either Kaiser or the hospital (sorry) and we started visiting them. Many of these are operated by Romanian families we found out, including the one that housed my father-in-law. The original one we found was run by a Romanian lady who had been doing it for awhile, and had a couple of women working for her. But we chose her son and his wife who were just starting out doing the same thing. They had a 2 year old little boy a new baby and a dog, all of these things my father-in-law adored. This young family was wonderful to my father-in-law and they only had one other man staying with them at the time, so it was REALLY one on one. I asked this 'kid' (at my age he looked like a kid) why there were so many Romanians doing foster care? And he said that in his country it was normal for the younger people to take care of the parents and grand parents. Well anyway, my father-in-law did die while he was there, but the care he got and the care my mother-in-law received when she came every single day to sit with him for

I have never heard of Adult Foster Care. What is it and how does it work?

saturn49, it sounds like applying for Medicaid may be your best option. Some facilities that accept Medicaid are very nice. Sometimes we hear otherwise, but with shopping, we can find good ones. If they will accept Medicaid, there will be a smooth transition whenever the money runs out.

I understand what you are going through. We would like to keep our family at home, but there is a time in the course of some diseases where we can no longer care for the person well enough. Communities often make it easier for us to find good facilities. Check to see if you can find a booklet for senior resources. Your brother might be younger, but it is the type facility he will need. The booklets generally have a list of LTC facilities and information about them, including if they accept Medicaid. Getting hold of a booklet will save you much search time. Once you decide on a facility, be sure to visit. Many time residents will be available, so you can even talk to them.

Good luck on finding a good facility. I hope the one nearest you will work out. It would be so much easier.

Have you checked into Adult Foster Care instead of a nursing home? Usually they are much cheaper, and more one on one care.