The document discusses concerns about how to financially protect a married couple if one spouse needs to enter a nursing home. Specifically, it notes that nursing home care can cost over $5,000 per month, which could deplete a typical retired couple's savings within a few years. It asks what legal options or accounts exist to shield assets from such high costs, and protect the finances of the spouse who remains at home, such as by having Medicare cover expenses after a waiting period.

1. How does our family give protection
for the child
If one parent ends up in a nursing
home, is the other parent doomed to
lose all they have saved for their
entire life with the insane cost of a
nursing home (5,000 or more per
month!) I don't know how anyone
who is in retirement could begin to
pay these prices. Is there a way to
protect their assets and go directly
to Medicare covering the costs. I'm
aware of the 5 year waiting period
for any funds to be protected. But
what exactly protects their funds
from depleting before Medicare
would kick in.
They are NOT super wealthy, but
own their home and a modest
retirement. They are too old to
obtain any affordable long term care
insurance. How can anyone afford

2. the cost of this care. One or two
years and the surviving spouse could
be financially wiped out.
I'm not sure of how the law works,
and what if any accounts are
protected.