Has caregiving cost you a bundle personally?
I have read so many heartbreaking stories on here about various caregiving situations. My mom helped caregive for both of my grandparents but while they did not pay her, they did have insurance and savings for medications, supplies and of course their health care coverage paid their medical bills. My dad worked and mom was a stay at home mom, so she did not quit an outside job.
I hear about so many people who quit their jobs, take out loans and exhaust savings paying for medicines and treatments and supplies for their parents and many have their own children/families. Are the majority of these situations like my parents where one spouse works an outside job and one stays at home caregiving? Are adult children moving in with their parents into their home and using their parents pension to live?
I just don't see how the caregivers make it financially. I am thinking about things such as if you quit your job, you are not paying into any social security or a pension (depending on your job) for yourself. If you take on loans for medical treatments, how do you pay them off?
Also, many of the parents I see mentioned are in their late 70's at youngest with many in their 80's and many have nothing. No savings, some with no home and many with no insurance. How? Do insurance companies drop patients at a certain age or is insurance not afforadble? I just know my relatives always kept insurance even if it meant giving something else up.
I also have known people to quit jobs to caregive with young children and there seems to be no thought into college accounts and sometimes even basic needs for their children.
If you are in this position, how do you make it work financially without going into bankruptcy?
May God Bless the caregivers.
And the really heartbreaking aspect is when you see questions posted about verbally or physically abusive seniors who the posters say have been that way their entire lives. So in many cases, these are not always loving, giving individuals we are talking about. I do realize there however are exceptions. However, to play the other side of the card, how could a loving parent even ask their child to quit their job, lose their pension or social security, go into bankruptcy or lose their home?
Maybe it's just because I have been through a version of this same play 20 years ago and am going through it again with just a different set of actors that I already know how the play ends.
My heart goes out to anyone that caregiving has ruined financially.
We are in uncharted waters. Some families already face this problem or worse when the elder has no pension and only a small social security or SSI payment. Most costs associated with in home care are funded by the elder or their caregiver.
We need to develop a better method of helping the elderly and their caregivers.
Elizabeth
Through the grace of God, Mom is off the ventilator, has been responding by nodding her head fo over a year now. You have to be a very special person to caregive, but if your heart is in it, and you Love that person you will do whatever you have to for them. I DO.