Germany accused of 'deporting' its elderly

Daily Mail UK ^ | 12/27/12 | Mail Foreign Service

[DFG]

German pensioners are being sent to care homes in Eastern Europe and Asia in what has been described as an ‘inhumane deportation’.

Rising numbers of the elderly and sick are moved overseas for long-term care because of sky-high costs at home.

Some private healthcare providers are even building homes overseas, while state insurers are also investigating whether they can care for their clients abroad.

Experts describe a time bomb’ of increasing numbers unable to afford the growing costs of retirement homes.

[palmer]

That is true. But many nursing home operators are part of the problem, they hire the cheapest help but then scam extra money from Medicare and insurance plans. Some nursing home “doctors” send their bills directly to collection agencies instead of the patient.

[yefragetuwrabrumuy]

Don’t underestimate Mexico. There are already substantial US retirement communities down there with long waiting lists.

They also have many things that in the US are ridiculously expensive and still hard to get. For example, they have a much better caregiver to patient ratio, and these are educated, English-speaking caregivers, btw.

They also have much more respect for the elderly. In Mexico, families care for their own elderly. They are also very Catholic and into “natural death”, which does not include euthanasia, which is creeping into parts of the US.

And believe me, even going to a top rated nursing home in the US can be pretty grotesque. I’ve seen corridors full of wheelchair women, who spend their time either drugged and in bed, or sitting and staring at painted bricks. If they aren’t senile when they get there, they will start to become senile in a week or two.

And it is expensive as hell.

[Wiggins]

That would never happen here. Instead we staff our nursing homes with third world immigrants with poor training and bad attitudes.

You are 100% correct. Most LPN's where a family member of mine is can't even speak English. They dispense the wrong medication to patients and become defensive and even arrogant when they are confronted with these mistakes. Where I live they are members of the SEIU. Their union rep is always available at the home wearing his Muslim attire.

[Pining_4_TX]

If you want to find the root of almost any problem, you have to look at government. Government interference in health care, insurance, and care for the elderly has produced the same sorry results that all government programs produce. We have declining quality, less access, and increasing costs. If the free market had been allowed to work (and if Social Security and Medicare had not convinced people that they need not plan for themselves, because Uncle Sam would take care of them), then the situation would be much different than it is now. There will always be problems, but government always makes problems worse.

[sickoflibs]

RE :”When my dear 92-year-old father was on a home hospice program in my home for the last 2 1/2 years of his life, the program (funded by Medicare) sent in CNA’s who were kind, dedicated, competent, and doing physically demanding, essential services for my very debilitated father. I was dismayed to find out they themselves were getting almost no benefits, and really low wages”

Medicare or medicaid?
Once again I don’t think medicare pays for long term nursing care, that is medicaid when all the patient’s and his/her spouses assets are gone.

Here in Maryland a nursing home charges $6K a month or $72K per year to medicaid. But of course the state government drives up the cost of labor without getting better service. Better to get a private contractor who wants to work off the books.

So this German idea might not be bad.

[steve86]

I tend to agree with your comments.

And, in many cases, the bad attitude and arrogance are mirroring the condescension they see in visitors to their patients.

I, for one, try to treat these people kindly and receive the same in return.

No, I don’t have much money for either a dog pedicure or elder care but we work with what we have.

[steve86]

Mrs. Don-o, I am sorry about your father.

My mother is 95 now, still drives, but it is time to update the durable powers of attorney (financial and health) and think seriously about care decisions that can’t be far into the future. I just noticed today that she already has a Catholic Advance Directive completed (who knows whether the hospital will honor this).

I really need to find out about home care options such as the home hospice program (for later). She is fortunate to have state employee’s medical insurance as well as my late father’s policy still as a secondary (going to look into that tomorrow). And Medicare, I guess?

She is close to the point where I will have to start at least overseeing things like rent payments and insurance coordination, although she’s done quite well on her own so far. But short term memory lapses are becoming apparent (e.g. she decorated her house nicely for Christmas but went out to dinner by herself Christmas after church, forgetting she was going to get together with us (we had discussed the plans fully on Christmas Eve)).

We always have to give thanks for every single day our parents remain with us, even on the more difficult days.

[Mrs. Don-o]

Actually, now that you mention it, I don’t know if it was Medicare or Medicaid (Tenncare?) They somehow worked it though the Tricities (TN) regional medical center (Mountain States Health Alliance.)