In no other country than the US is health care tied to your job.

That’s part of the whole healthcare debate.

Unfortunately, there’s not likely to be a good answer. Nearly 80% of all American households will see a long-term care scenario, but no one wants to prepare.

You’ve probably found out that Medicare assistance is extremely limited. The only options are paying out of pocket, insurance, or Medicaid.

You’ve already stated that paying out of assets is not attractive. If your mother’s condition is as you suggest, long-term care coverage is probably not an option, or at least will be extremely expensive (though it can’t hurt to try). The final option is Medicaid qualification. Because any assets transferred within the last five years are still included in the calculation, she’ll have to actually spend down until she qualifies. Even then, facilities are limited to Medicaid beds available.

First, see what her doctor can declare medically necessary, as Medicare or health coverage may cover some expenses. Next, see an agent who specializes in LTC coverage to see what may be available given her condition. Also, there are prepaid in-home care plans which may be available. Some LTC agents can offer these services as well. Finally, see an elder law attorney.

You are right. Health Care is a voluntary benefit on behalf of the employer.

Its a perk.

Transfer the assets. Do it now before she is in a care situation because once she is, people can get in trouble for transferring assets to keep the agencies from getting them.

There are attorneys and financial advisors who specialize in elder care.

You can purchase long-term care insurance.

You can have a plan for her care that does not involve living in a nursing home.

The giving away of all assets to qualify for Medicaid is often touted. Do you really want your mother dependent on welfare? Anyway, the lookback period is five years, so that isn’t a practical solution.

Even in these rough times, there are some fields that actually see growth during a recession – and healthcare is one of them.

Demand for healthcare is relatively unaffected by recessions because people feel that healthcare is a necessity rather than an option. According to an article from the Bureau of Labor Statistics*, studies have shown from the 1980s that healthcare is one of the career fields that always sees a growth increase during recessions.

In fact, healthcare will see an increase in career opportunities, expected to grow 22% through 2016**. This means that there should be plenty of options for secure careers in the healthcare field. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, 7 of the 20 fastest-growing occupations are in healthcare-related careers. That means, with the right medical training, individuals can find employment and stability, even during recessions.

One of the most secure careers is medical assisting. The Bureau of Labor Statistics states that medical assisting is expected to grow 35% through 2016. You can find Medical Assisting programs with MedTech College. The School offers personalized attention and hands-on training for this in-demand career. As a medical assistant, you can assist doctors and nurses in procedures, fill out forms, draw blood, perform numerous lab tests, and work in the front of medical offices. You can learn more at

Hope that helps!

yes, b ut ask the cost first.

Healthcare is a very rewarding field im a navy corpsman been 1 for 3yrs = to an LPN and i do alot cuz if u choose a specialty ur stuck but RN u do alot. And to answer disease part doesnt happen often, its all how careful u r

I did once while visiting. Visited a clinic and received prescriptions.

Exam not free. I paid them.

I am originally from UK- I trained there as a physiotherapist (different name same profession as physical therapist) it has allowed me to work in a lot of different settings-amongst them- acute medical care in a hospital based situation, specialised care in a rehab unit for neurological patients mainly head injury and spinal cord injury which let me work and travel with the spinal injuries team for different ‘games’ …it allowed me to be able to find a job here in the states working in Illinois for a home health agency and then from there to a hospital setting in CA with a rehab unit and teaching program …what I am saying here is instead of giving up and wasting my credentials when I got bored or fed up in a situation I was able to find something in a new situation /setting and still work my profession which as you can see is very varied in its application- only being a physical therapist gives you many , many opportunites for growth and experience!

If you can find a doctor who will take you on, there is absolutely no rule prohibiting you from seeing a Canadian doctor and paying for your care yourself, since you obviously don’t have Canadian universal coverage.

So, go ahead and start calling doctors, you might be able to find yourself a doctor.

Here is a website to search various careers from the US occupational outlook handbook: and search ‘registered nurse’ or such.

as long as the patients don’t lose their in come it shouldn’t have any effect,but if income is lost the patients will be tossed out on the street and people will lose care giver jobs,also if to much money (inflation) is printed and patient income stays the same they wont be able to pay so they get tossed out on street and you lose your job because not enough patients to pay for services.the real problem with the big bailouts is that the government have put the printing presses in over drive.every dollar they print will remove a little value from the dollar you have,print enough and your dollar is worthless,just like junk bonds do.a depression like we are starting to have is really acerbated by printing to much money,prices follow the money supply UP and it takes more money to buy the same thing you normally buy,and its not because of supply and demand but because money is so easy to get,in a depression when work is just not available then money value goes UP and prices go down,because people don’t have an income to buy,the new government is treating the national economy like a poker player trying to bluff their way in to winning the game,but when it comes time to pay all the bets off there wont be enough tax paying workers to pay the bill,so it collapse with worse consequences than if they did nothing at all,they should have let the fat hogs starve,and helped the little banks thrive with a strong super visional regulator at their side.but the fat banks will **** the feed out of the trough and the little pigs will starve

Actually health care is quite stable during a recession. If you think about it people still need their medicine and you cant pick when you are going to get sick. So health care can continue to grow even during a recession. The main reason for this is that health care companies cover vast areas so they have a diverse enough clientel that they will continue to allways be profitable.

Hospitals and doctors offices, would be affected at different rates. If your hospital is in a big city it is likely that you are going to see stable growth in your practice. If you are a small doctor’s office that hadles mainly physicals and elective treatments you will see that you are going to be loosing money during a recesion.

I can only tackle one part of the health care system that is on my mind at the moment.

I dont understand why the government has made such a ruckus over abortions/birth control, etc…

I am Pro-Life, always will be.

From the moment that I walked into the hospital to give birth to my daughter until the minute that I walked out, I accumulated approximately $22K in hospital bills. After I had my child, I went and got an IUD.

With that being said, I dont understand why there are people who were on welfare and government issued healthcare before they ever had a child, and now have multiple. An IUD (intrauterine device) without insurance is approximately $700 and is good for five years.

Here are my thoughts on that.

I, as a taxpayer, would rather foot the bill for a $700 IUD bill rather than at least $14K in medical bills (assuming it was a vaginal delivery with no epidural or pain management, no epesiotomy, standard LDR–pretty miserable) then at LEAST $20 a week in infant formula (this is offbrand by the way) for 12 months (that is how long an infant is supposed to be on formula), diapers which the offbrand case is about $20 for about 80-100 diapers which may last 2 weeks at the most, medical bills for the child to get his/her vaccinations and checkups and illnesses. And within the 5 years of having the IUD, we can calculate that there are 60 months in 5 years with approximately 4 weeks in each month. which is 240 weeks. The average gestation is 40 weeks (and doing the math is an average of 10 months, not 9…) that this woman may back to back have 6 children in 5 years….exactly. And if she is an uneducated woman or a woman who depends on government issued healthcare and welfare as a means of sole support (which please believe me, it happens, especially down here in TX where I am from) then she may not know that it takes no recovery time for a woman to become pregnant again after giving birth, EVEN if she breastfeeds. Let alone, this same woman probably would not follow the guidelines to wait at least 6 weeks after birth (vaginal OR cesarian) to engage in sexual *********** again, this is a GREAT possibility. SO doing the math, we can ask a woman using government assistance who has at least ONE child (to be fair, because after all a lot of people do not ask to be in these situations) to get an IUD ($700) or even any other form of birth control that is more reliable than a condom or the pill (injections, implants, etc…) or we can foot a $14K hospital bill, $2K in prenatal and postnatal care for the mother, $20 a week for 52 weeks for formula (not including baby food for when the child reaches between 5 and 6 months), an average of $50 a month for diapers, and heck, Ill even leave OUT the pediatric medical bills. This all comes to a grand total of approximately $17.5K and this can be repeated 6 times (max) during the life of this 5 year method of birth control to a total of $105K.

You can argue, as everyone is entitled to their opinions, but I am also entitled to not really care how offended someone is because I haven’t target any one race of religion here. Except Polygamists, they believe in “milking the beast”….

Hi there again. I have insurance too, and my child was planned by my husband and I, but if I had not have had insurance it would have been $22K. I was in labor for 13 hours after a required induction, and ended up having a C-Section. This is my example of how things can go SO awry, and we can plan for something, and it not end up being that way. I can not put a price on life, this is why I am PRO-LIFE and support having reliable, effective, government issued birth control to people on government assitance rather than unwanted children who are not raised in an environment where they are wanted.

Just boycott! Cancel your health insurance; man up! Quit being a coward and only go to the hospital if you absolutely have to go. Most of the medicines that you are on are useless and you only think that you need to be on them. Most of the pain that you have can be managed with relative ease. Let these insurance companies and hospitals lose so much money that they will be wanting to pay you to give them a visit and provide their services on you. I honestly have not been to a doctor in years. Sure, I hurt myself here and there. I get sick. I have figured out how to treat myself; how to eat and how to live to where I won’t need a nurse to put a band aid on me every time I get a cut…and I guarantee that I am more active than 99% of you that are on here.

Seriously people…wake up! Doing the same thing over and over again will not offer you a different result.

Not socialising it and eliminating medicare for illegals would be a start. Reforming the insurance industry

@ LAUREN G: Wow 22k? I just had a daughter and it costed only $200, but then again I have health insurance. Sorry to hear it costs that much for you but how can you put a price on life? And nice call on the IUD lol

Kill the Lawyers