If Medicaid and Medicare fail, adult children in many states will be subject to "filial responsibility laws"

[pnwmom]

making them responsible for their indigent parents' care, including medical and nursing home care.

In truth, no one really wants to be sued for another person’s bills, even if it’s for family. That’s why you’ll want to find out what states have filial responsibility, and if it’s something that you need to watch out for.

How Many States Have Filial Responsibility Laws?
There are currently 29 states that have filial responsibility laws, but the number of participating states continues to change. For instance, Maryland repealed their statutes relating to filial responsibility as recently as 2007, bringing the number down from 30 to 29. Because not all states have laws relating to filial responsibility, it is necessary to find out whether they apply in the state you live in.

https://trustandwill.com/learn/what-states-have-filial-responsibility?srsltid=AfmBOoqUPpcxuWgjpgOzM-_KOhgsZp6xYB4XXCkSHUlpK5u2LLez7nji

[Silent Type]

1. Great post. It's one reason I believe trump will fail cutting Medicaid, etc. Bubba trumpster is gonna get mad if

he has to sell his big, expensive truck and guns to pay for mom/grandma’s healthcare.

[pnwmom]

2. I agree -- there will be many shocked Bubbas. nt

[Justice matters.]

9. A lot of them are stupid gullible magats.

I see a lot of these idiots posting their praise of their dear leader over and over again...

Oops... they never saw that one coming!

[woodsprite]

3. It's only for indigent parents, not siblings, right? nt

[spooky3]

4. Thank you. I never knew about these laws. If TSF keeps crashing

the stock market, even the adult children with substantial investments won’t be able to help their parents.

[VMA131Marine]

5. I'm fairly certain that most of these laws came about

through lobbying by the nursing home industry who wanted to make sure they had someone to sue to recover unpaid bills from the family of an indigent person.

[MissB]

6. My parent is in a non-filial responsibility state

And all of us siblings live in another state (which does have filial responsibility laws).

That means we don’t end up having to deal with the cost of our remaining parent’s slow decline from a financial perspective at least.

[cliffside]

7. Thanks, never knew this. nt

[hunter]

8. Ah, a return to the good old days when you threw momma off the train...

... let her wander off into the forest, etc..

[SunSeeker]

10. Wow, I had no idea California had such a law.

California
CA Fam Code § 4400 (2018) “Support of Parents” makes adult children responsible for supporting “a parent who is in need and unable to maintain himself or herself by work.” However, the law states that this applies unless “otherwise provided by law.”

But does that even include their credit card bills and such? It's one thing to require grown children support their parents by providing them food and shelter, but could their bill collectors come after the children too?

[synni]

11. In many states, the bill collectors can come after sons and daughters

😭

[elocs]

12. I googled it and found 19 states with filial laws:

https://www.google.com/search?q=what+states+have+filial+responsibility+laws&sca_esv=eecdb16faa9e1d78&rlz=1CAJCUZ_enUS1133&sxsrf=AHTn8zqEJE3NHRN4GuNr-ZsnDhpU74KlEg%3A1741333355175&ei=a6PKZ86xCuajptQPgr7F0Q8&ved=0ahUKEwiOk8igvPeLAxXmkYkEHQJfMfoQ4dUDCBA&uact=5&oq=what+states+have+filial+responsibility+laws&gs_lp=Egxnd3Mtd2l6LXNlcnAiK3doYXQgc3RhdGVzIGhhdmUgZmlsaWFsIHJlc3BvbnNpYmlsaXR5IGxhd3MyCxAAGIAEGJECGIoFMgYQABgHGB4yBhAAGAgYHjILEAAYgAQYhgMYigUyCBAAGIAEGKIEMggQABiABBiiBEiJZlAAWJo-cAB4AZABAJgBtAKgAf0PqgEHMC42LjMuMrgBA8gBAPgBAZgCCqAC6g_CAgUQABjvBcICCBAAGAcYCBgewgIHEAAYgAQYDZgDAJIHBzAuNi4yLjKgB_dQ&sclient=gws-wiz-serp

Filial responsibility laws by state
From sources across the web

Alaska

Arkansas

California

Connecticut

Delaware
Georgia

Idaho

Indiana

Kentucky

Louisiana

Massachusetts
Mississippi

Montana

Nevada

New Hampshire

New Jersey

North Carolina

North Dakota

Ohio



Which is the most recent list?

[pnwmom]

14. Hopefully that one is more recent. I couldn't find a date on mine. nt

[elocs]

15. I thought it might be since it had fewer states listed. n/t

[markodochartaigh]

13. Also, EMTALA was passed in 1986.

This is the law which keeps hospitals from turning people who can't pay away. Before that hospital emergency rooms absolutely did refuse service to the sick and injured people who couldn't pay. Now, if a hospital takes federal money, they have to at least stabilize patients before transferring them.
There was a Republican politician in Tennessee a few years ago who wanted to get rid of EMTALA, and in an abortion case in Idaho it is being brought up again.

[valleyrogue]

16. They won't be gone.

This is speculative fiction.

[pnwmom]

17. They've already passed a budget without the needed funds. Large cuts will be coming somewhere in these programs,

we just don't know exactly where.

But keep telling yourself it's all a fiction if that makes you feel better.