Originally Posted by
UASCOMPILOT
No way...my parents are 90 neither spent mor the 25k since retirement...625k really that's almost the cost of Steve Austin...I call BS
Basically I would agree. However, there is a big "but". None the less, I'm not a fan of what I perceive to be over hyping of the RHA.
In the last 3 decades I have been intimately involved in the final care costs for my grandmother, my mother-in-law, my father, my wife's sister's mother-in-law, and my mother. Two of these people had personal resources in excess of $3mil and the other 3 ended up on Medicaid (state paid nursing home care).
The big bills started when the individual reached a point where they stopped being able to do 3 of the basic 6 activities: feeding, bathing, dressing, toileting, transferring, and walking. I realize a sample of 5 is small but I think the point is relevant none the less.
Tragically as more and more of us reach extreme old age there are more and more of us who reach a point where these 6 basic tasks become impossible. Now some people are lucky and have family members who are able and willing to assist, but for those individuals without familial helpers the end becomes life in a nursing home, and THAT is outrageously expensive. But here's the thing. It doesn't really matter whether you have $5 mil or $500k in the bank at that time. The difference between most "high end" nursing homes and the "average" nursing home is minimal. If you have the means to pay upwards of $10k a month you your family will pick the nursing home of their choice, but if you have $500k you'll still be able to pick th home, but it will be one on the list that accepts Medicaid because once the $500k is exhausted you'll simply stay where you are on the state's dime. Of course the quality of the institution can vary state to state by a wide margin. In the end though whether your RHA has $200k or $20k won't make a lick of difference because if you hit a point of "high" medical bills it will be REALLY high and not something any RHA will take care of.
Bottom line: "Normal" medical bills are well covered by existing plans. It is the end-of-life bills that skew this number, and an RHA won't take care of those type of bills.