http://moneycentral.msn.com/content/CollegeandFamily/Caringforparents/P140370.asp#msnhp

Has anyone had to deal with this? It's almost criminal - nursing homes cost a fortune, but medicare won't lift a finger until every penny of the person's assets is gone, and they're vicious about it (my aunt gave me some stock before going into a home, and the state came after me for it).

My bitch isn't so much about the state, but the cost of nursing homes - I just don't get where the money goes. Most of them don't even have a doctor on staff, and many don't have a nurse - they're just tiny condos with a small extra maintenance staff...

Can someone enlighten me? Tell me that I'm misunderstanding the expenses of running such a place and nobody's actually getting rich off the elderly...

Philo

Supply and demand. No one else wants to take care of them. I'm not sure the costs are related to anything more then that.

I have a friend that works as a nurse in the US and has worked in a number of nursing homes and she could certainly tell you that the money doesn't go in nursing wages.

That's true, and unfortunate, since the low pay often results in neglect or abuse. Nursing homes are truely sad places.

LOTS of neglect and abuse in nursing homes. My mother in law works in a nursing home and I can't BELIEVE the stories I hear out of there.

Adult children should be ashamed for dumping their parents in such places. Fucking Me generation.

Blame two-income families, where neither adult is home during the day to take care of elderly parents. Or children.