Obama-Careless, Part 4

(I’m an accountant for a retirement community. A long-time resident is moving from our condos to our skilled nursing unit, and I’m helping her daughter navigate the many financial issues related to that. Specifically, I’m discussing Medicaid, which will be paying for Mom’s room in nursing.)

Me: “To be eligible for Medicaid, your mother will have to have less than two thousand dollars in liquid assets. So she’ll need to pay for part of the first month out of pocket to get down to that level.”

Daughter: “Less than two thousand bucks? That’s not much money. How is she supposed to live on that little?”

Me: “I know it doesn’t seem like much, but it should cover all personal expenses, and Medicaid will cover the bulk of the charges for her care here.”

Daughter: “You know, I wish someone would overthrow the government and get rid of stupid rules like that.”

Me: “If someone overthrows the government, Medicaid will disappear entirely and you’ll be responsible for a bill of almost nine thousand dollars every month.”

Daughter: “Less than two thousand sounds good.”