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"Talk about most residents on Medicare medical assistance. Phew!"

Most people are on the public dole, I'm afraid to have to say.
In the "old days," having the taxpayer flip for anything used to be called, "Welfare."
But not anymore, not in this day & age of thinkspeak.

"My dad's monthly rent at the nursing home is $4800.00 a month. Ate up his savings many, many moons ago."

I'm sure it did; but, this also tells me a whole bunch about what kind of a man your father is, too.
He's an honest man, one who lived his entire life by working hard while never taking a handout.
~eh?

Without becoming enmeshed in a debate beyond the scope of what this article tries to point out, let me say given how your father lived his life, and, according to your own words?
You must be one hellova fine, decent, and honest person, yourself.
One of the few truths in life says, "The apple doesn't fall far from the tree."

Also, one other thing.
It may be just semantics butttt, your father wasn't paying, "rent."
What he was paying for was a clean heated room with staffed 24&7 nursing care, 3 squares a day, clean bedding, clothes & other assorted accessories and of course meals & medical treatment, PRn.
Moreover, I can assure you whatever state you live made damned sure he recieved what he was paying for -- via -- periodic suprise inspections from the Health Dept and at least one thorough survey per year from the Feds on every aspect of the business ranging from soup to nuts.
The surveyors leave no stone unturned.

Expensive?
You bet it is, make no mistake about it.
So what you're saying doesn't fall on deaf ears, you can bank on that.

"All he has left is the house that I'm living in but I've got to sell it sooner or later because I can't keep up with the taxes. Once I sell it, the nursing home gets all the proceeds. If he dies and there are still proceeds left over, the nursing home gets half and me and my sister get the other half."

So how do you feel about those elderly who cleverly divested themselves of all their assets & then, throw themselves at the public's [read: you & I] mercy while the kids enjoy the finest in housing, food & transportation -- in accordance to their "windfall" & YUPI lifestyle -- when there were honest men like your good father who played "the game" according to the rules & paid his fair share?

Feel screwed?
I sure do.

"For those of you clueless so far about the financial aspects of nursing homes, the resident has to use up all their assets before medical assistance can kick in. I'm talking all investments, iRA's, even have to liquidate their life insurance policies. Mom and Pop are allowed to keep $2400.00 for funeral expense. I don't think you can buy a pine box for $2400.00 any more.
And when it's time to apply for medical assistance, get ready to go through and provide financial records for the past 3 years. I mean every sheet of paper with a dollar sign on it."

Yup.
And that "Past 3 year rule" is a relatively new law, too.
The Feds want their money, first, then, they disperse said money according to what they say they're going to pay, & not a dime more.
Now whether the nursing home loses money or not, the government couldn't care less as their position is, "That's your problem."
Some "business," huh.

Having said that, may I ask you who you believe wrote everey word of the existing rules?
Fact is, the nursing home your father's in -- & just about every other elderly patient -- is probably running in the red; UNLESS, they've a preponderance of "Private Pay" residents.
PP's are a scenario which is becoming more & more rare with every passing day too, I might add.

"Have fun!"

...that's life, I'm afraid.

I'm sure it did; but, this also tells me a whole bunch about what kind of a man your father is, too. He's an honest man, one who lived his entire life by working hard while never taking a handout. ~eh

True and a World War II vet to boot.

I hate cradle to grave government nanny care as much as the next person, but then there's the working half of me that thinks that I do more in my job than the $10.40 per hour I'm paid. Yet I don't want to be more of a burden on our SS/Medicare system.

Sheesh, here I am, a poor working stiff wrestling with an enormous social problem much bigger than alot of Americans even have a clue about.

Scuse me, it's time for me to take my anxiety/anti-depressant medication.

It may be just semantics butttt, your father wasn't paying, "rent."

Yes, you are right - "rent" is just my own shorthand term I use so I don't have to type out 10-15 words!

I am looking into a nursing home for my father. I asked some health care professionals who were acquaintances for recommendations. Although there are probably twenty or thirty nursing homes in the community that I live in, the same two nursing homes were recommended by a variety of people. When I investigated I found out that there was a big difference between the two that were recommended. While both charged nearly the same rates, there was a big difference in the visible quality of care as well as a bigger difference in philosophy of running the nursing home. One nursing home had about ninety per cent public aid patients while the other had eighty per cent private pay patients.

I was very impressed with the home which had the eighty per cent private pay patients. I am certain that the home that had the ninety per cent public pay was the best home in the area of all the other nursing homes which have a preponderance of public aid patients. One thing is for certain both homes wanted to have patients entering the home on the 100 days of Medicare. This is where they really milk the system.

In both homes all the beds were Medicare certified, but in the one home only thirty per cent of the beds were public aid certified while in the other home all the beds were public aid certified. And in the home where only thirty per cent of the beds were public aid certified only two-thirds of those were currently allotted to public aid. I questioned the director of admissions a great deal and we had a very nice chat. It was the policy of this home to discourage admissions that would be public aid after the hundred days of Medicare was used up.

The patients who were on public aid had been private pay patients at the home for years and who had run out of resources. In fact the admissions director said that it was their policy to place Medicare patients who had run out of days and would have to go on Medicare into other nursing homes. In the course of our conversation it was stated that they received a fixed amount from public aid, and that was much less than the rates that they charged. The director said that the reason that the reason the quality of care and facilty's quality of operation was so noticeably different from other homes in the area was because the private pay patients paying the full rates allowed the home to simply put more money into salaries and operations.

My father and I have been very blessed. He worked very hard for his good pension and retirement income. If he has to go into a nursing home, he will be a private pay patient in the home that has the eighty per cent private pay population. I do agree with you that there are probably a lot of people who have gamed the system by intentionally planning to go a nursing home on my buck and your buck.