...and so are you, if your Mom or Dad have the misfortune to live in Pennsylvania.
Stemming from English Poor Laws that go back to the 1500's, most U.S. states used to have laws requiring an adult child to care for his or her indigent parents. These laws come from a time when people didn't live much beyond 40.
Many states repealed these laws after Medicaid became the norm for covering long term care for those without the means to afford the exorbitant costs of it. However, 29 states still have these archaic statutes on the books. In most states they are rarely enforced- with one notable exception- Pennsylvania.
In 2005, Pennsylvania passed Act 43, resurrecting outdated filial support laws and making adult children financially responsible for their parents medical bills. Any third party is able to sue adult children for the medical debts incurred by their parents. Critics have called it the most Draconian filial support law in the country.
In 2012, in the Health Care Retirement Corporation vs. Pittas case, a woman racked up $93,000 in nursing home bills after a car accident, and then fled to Greece, leaving the bill unpaid.
The nursing home sued her son, John Pittas, and won. The mother had applied for Medicaid, and even though she had a husband and other children, none of them were named as defendants in the lawsuit. The mother transferred no assets to her son, and he was accused of no wrongdoing or fraud. He was forced to pay simply because he was her son, and was deemed by the court as having the “ability” to pay. John Pittas tried to appeal, and the PA Supreme Court refused to hear his case. Refused. To. Hear. His. Case... wow...
Scared yet? You should be. You should be scared shitless if you have an elderly parent living in Pennsylvania, or anywhere else for that matter, because a dangerous precedent has been set.
In a new twist on filial support, again in Pennsylvania- an elderly couple, Peg and Bob Mohn, are being hounded by debt collectors. Their son died at 47, leaving unpaid medical bills behind. Using the filial support laws, creditors are trying to force the Mohn's to pay them. Should this case be tried in the courts, the Mohn's will likely lose, setting another disastrous precedent.
Where will it end? Will you be responsible for siblings medical bills next, or aunts, uncles, cousins, due to no fault of your own other than simply being related by blood? Will other bills be next, will you be on the hook for all your relatives bad life choices because you have the “ability” to pay?
People are living longer than ever, many into their 90's or even past 100. It isn't that uncommon anymore. Meanwhile, the cost of long term care has spiraled out of control, to levels that only the wealthy- or the very poor, thanks to Medicaid- can afford. And I've got news for you- Medicaid does NOT cover everything- and you can still be sued for what it doesn't cover.
The federal government and states are cash strapped. Budgets are being slashed. There's always plenty to go around for wars, and corporate welfare, but that's a topic for another diary...
Medicaid is also getting harder to get, even if you qualify. In the Pittas case the nursing home did not wait for the mother's Medicaid application to be approved, they sued her son instead.
While it is the proper thing to do to help our parents in their old age, it's time for a reality check. We Boomers are the sandwich generation, burdened with taking care of children and often for aged parents as well. While times are great for the 1%, they aren't so great for the rest of us. Wages are flat, housing and living costs are high, and inflation increases every year.
Our parents generation managed to buy a home and raise a family on just one paycheck, while we Boomers often have to work 2 jobs just to keep our heads above water. We have had to work our asses off for whatever we have, and now the government- at least in Pennsylvania- wants it all.
The law requires parents to take care of children, but is it fair to expect the reverse? Think about it. Your parents may have been abusive, or neglectful. How do you prove that decades after the fact? And why should you have to?
Your parents made a choice to have you. They cared for you as you became more capable and independent with each passing day. And their responsibility for you ended at age 18. After you left home, your parents lived their own lives. They may not have planned for their own retirements, or wasted all their money, or may have made unhealthy lifestyle choices. Now their children have to pay the price for it.
Fast forward to a time in your life where you have to deal with an elderly parent. There will come a time when they will no longer be able to live on their own. They may break a hip, have a stroke, or have dementia. What do you do? Do you move them into your own home? What if your home is not equipped to handle the needs of an elderly person? Do you remodel? Relocate? Do you have the means to do that? Should you be expected to? Add to this the fact that you yourself may not be young anymore, maybe you're in your 50's or 60's and dealing with your own health and mobility problems.
PA recently passed the CARE act, which was widely lauded as “helping” caregivers. I'll summarize what the CARE act does- it doesn't provide much needed financial help, what it does is basically give caregivers a crash course in changing diapers, giving medications and injections, treating wounds and bedsores, operating specialized medical equipment, etc.
Isn't this stuff that a skilled professional should be doing instead of you?
Now many Pennsylvania families are terrified of being held liable for tens- if not hundreds of thousands- of nursing home debt and sued into bankruptcy. And don't count on getting much help from the state if you do decide to keep Mom at home with you. At most, Medicare may pay for someone to come in a few hours a week to help out, that's about it.
In other words- kiss your life- and your own retirement- goodbye.
It is a difficult decision to move someone to a nursing home- but at some point there will be no alternative. As much as you may want to care for Mom or Dad at home, you will reach a point where you won't be able to do it anymore.
In addition, the state of Pennsylvania can sue you for any Medicaid monies paid on behalf of your parent, even if zero assets were transferred to you.
What happens to your own nest egg and retirement plans when Mom is living with you and requires 24/7 care, or racks up several hundred thousand dollars of nursing home debt, and YOU'RE on the hook for it?
Isn't this why we work all our lives and pay taxes- so that when we're old and infirm we can be taken care of?
I am an only child- and my own mother is 85. And since we both live in PA... God help me.
She still lives on her own, but she is frail. I know that one day, sooner rather than later, I am going to be faced with the choice of having to remodel my house to accommodate her, and become her nurse- or face being sued into poverty. There goes our own retirement either way, and our plans to escape the cold and retire in Florida, because the long arm of PA law can reach you even there if your parent still resides in PA.
Maybe I'm selfish, but this is not how I want to spend my own remaining years. And when people tell me “she took care of you when you were a baby” I call bullshit. Taking care of a baby you chose to have when you were young and strong is a far cry from being forced to feed, bathe, and change the diapers of an elderly person when you yourself are getting on in years.
Do I think the government owes us anything? You bet your ass I do. They take nearly half of the income of the average family in the form of one tax or another. So yes- I do think we should be entitled to something back at the end of our lives- especially since the government is so good at spreading it around to those who don't need it, and don't deserve it. And yes, I would GLADLY pay higher taxes so that everyone's Mom and Dad is covered for this eventuality, because we will all have to deal with it one day. It benefits all of us.
Nobody should have to face being driven into poverty by the medical bills of another person. It isn't fair, it isn't just, it probably isn't even Constitutional, and it needs to be repealed.
Most people- especially in PA- aren't aware of these laws, until they get gobsmacked by them. But the fact that this PA law set a precedent is truly chilling. It will have nationwide repercussions.
I hope some of you who read this tell others about it, because the more people who are made aware of these unjust laws, the better chance there is to relegate them back to the dark ages where they belong.