Aging and Law

¶ … preservation of assets for the elderly who are faced with medical bills, either for themselves or for their children. The writer also discusses the preservation of assets when an elderly person has to go into a nursing home or assisted living facility. There were three sources used to complete this paper. Through the ability of medical science America's population is living longer than ever before.

As the nation's population continues to age elderly residents are encountering significant dilemmas regarding the preservation of assets when they have large medical bills to pay either for themselves or their adult children. In addition the need to move into a nursing home or an assisted living facility also endangers the assets of the elderly. The medical community has been able to lengthen life and with that ability comes the price.

Medical bills are higher now than ever before, and the medical community is able to implement medical procedures that extend life as well as the quality of life. For most of their adult lives the elderly worked and prepared for their golden years. They work to pay off property as well as build investment accounts so that they will not become a burden to their children. The current method of determining eligibility for medical benefits from the government includes the analysis of the assets of the patients.

Many elderly find themselves faced with paying medical bills and losing everything they have worked for, with no hope of starting over and rebuilding it. When an elderly person is faced with large medical bills for himself or herself, or adult children, or is faced with moving into a nursing home or assisted living facility it is important for them to know how to best preserve their assets in the process.

"The economic status of the elderly and that of children are analyzed using a comprehensive definition of income that takes selected types of non-cash income and taxes into account. Estimates are presented for detailed age groups over the entire age range and for socioeconomic classifications within the elderly subgroup and within the subgroup of children (Radner, 1996)." The calculation of the income and assets of the elderly for the purpose of preservation in the face of medical bills includes property as well as cash on hand.

It is important for the elderly to understand the way property and cash affect their liability when it comes to medical bills and other costs such as nursing homes. The government does provide a Medicaid program for those who have low incomes. Because a low income is a requirement of being in the program the elderly that have assets generally do not qualify. Instead those residents are forced to find ways to preserve their assets in the event they encounter such situations.

Often times the elderly put their property or assets into the names of their children or other family members. Because there are time tables by which this has to be done or it will still be counted against the elderly income, it is important that the assets are transferred in a timely manner (Gurny, 1992). In addition there are certain assets that are not attachable, including assets that are willed to family members in some cases.

This allows the elderly to will certain types of assets to the family members and protect those assets from seizure or inclusion in the calculation for medical responsibility. The government is constantly evaluating the criteria for paying the medical bills of the elderly as well as the criteria for financial assets of those who have to reside in a nursing home (Hogan, 1993).