Get Ready To Pay $60,000 Per Annum For Relative's Long Term Care.

[DeminPennswoods]

20. More like 10k per month for nursing home care

That's 120k a year. What most middle class families do is use an estate lawyer to transfer Mom or Dad's money to an irrevocable trust that removes it from being considered an asset by medicaid. Pensions, IRAs and irrevocable trusts and the primary residence are exempt from the asset test, but there's a 5 year "look back" period so if any money was transferred to a trust during that time, it could be subject to being counted later and "repaid" to medicaid. Mom and/or Dad might still have to "spend down" some money to reach the maximum they're allowed to have in assets which I think is right now around 8k.

I'm sure most children expect to inheirit the money their parents saved over a lifetime, but if medicaid goes away, they can forget that plan. The alternative is to take care of Mom and/or Dad themselves, which is very stressful.