Elder care $ question

[tmitchell]

My mother is 81 and needs a ton of dental work. She basically spends all of her income on necessities, and the work will probably run into the thousands after her insurance (which only pays $1k).

She grosses $41k/yr which makes her just rich enough to not qualify for assistance, so it looks like I’ll be paying for what she can’t. I’m ok with that in principle but I was wondering if I’m missing any hacks in this situation to ease the burden?

This was one outlier expense I hadn’t planned for now that I stopped working

 

[youbet]

Dental care is an expense often discussed here since it's easy to overlook while planning for FIRE. It's common for dental costs to increase as you age and also common to not take them into consideration when you are younger and planning.

Shop for the best price. Get written estimates when possible. Look at dental schools. Talk to dentists about having the work over two years so $2k would be insured.

Call every gov't agency you can think of.

Find a group that advocates for elderly folks and ask for advise.

It does sound like your mom has enough resources that getting public aid is going to be tough. But you can research and shop for the best price and then just "get 'er done!".

My MIL had very poor dental health in her last few years and that was a big detractor to her quality of life. Find some way to do it before things get completely out of hand or you'll both regret it later on.

Sorry I don't have an answer regarding how to "hack" this situation.

 

[ivinsfan]

Does she live near any dental school. They can offer deep discounts on dental work. Call around before you go retail.

 

[OldShooter]

Every state has a resource board for the elderly. One of the things they do is to manage federal programs like Meals on Wheels. Another, typically, is to offer a support center with counselors whose job is to connect seniors and their caregivers with resources. Your profile says you live in CA. If your mother does too here is a place to start: https://aging.ca.gov/Programs_and_Services/ and here: https://aging.ca.gov/Contact_Us/ Hopefully you'll discover resources that you didn't know about.

+1 on dental school clinics. DW and I use our local university clinic and are very happy. No one ever tries to sell us things we don't need. Quality control is supurb. And the prices are substantially lower than the usual retail. In come cases they are 1/3.

 

[Bamaman]

You can always plan to get some work done the last week of December, and then another appointment the first of January. That'll take care of $2K of her insurance.

She might also sign up for a better dental policy for the future--if the work doesn't have to be done right away.

 

[steady saver]

I second the dental school option.

 

[tmitchell]

Thanks everyone. She's actually in CO and I'm in CA, but I'll check on the dental school idea.

One other thing that's been quite difficult is that care for the elderly doesn't seem very good at all in general. I'm reading a great book called Elderhood by a geriatric doctor that explains why. Mom also has some dementia that adds difficulty to sorting things out long distance...very complicated indeed.

I got her to a senior retail Dr who was an oral surgeon in the military and has taken a soft approach to treatment that seems reasonable. He's recommended two specialists so maybe I'll get her to a school for those.

 

[Scuba]

I’m guessing this may not be a viable option for your mom given her location and dementia, but I’ve heard that dental work just across the border in Los Algodones, Mexico, is high quality and half or so of the US cost.

 

[tmitchell]

I’m guessing this may not be a viable option for your mom given her location and dementia, but I’ve heard that dental work just across the border in Los Algodones, Mexico, is high quality and half or so of the US cost.

Thanks, yeah that wouldn't be an option at this point without a ton of supervision.

 

[OldShooter]

... She's actually in CO ...

Maybe other resources available:
https://cdhs.colorado.gov/our-services/older-adult-services/state-unit-on-aging
and
https://cdhs.colorado.gov/our-servi...it-on-aging/support-services-for-older-adults
and
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1v1Mq1Sw2bVa9hHo-aM0wHkpRkbwoZU_T/view?usp=sharing

 

[athena53]

You can always plan to get some work done the last week of December, and then another appointment the first of January. That'll take care of $2K of her insurance.

She might also sign up for a better dental policy for the future--if the work doesn't have to be done right away.

I don't know if there is such a thing as a "better" dental policy- we've had plenty of threads on it and they mostly boil down to low max annual payouts, major work covered at 50% or less, and 6- to 12-month waiting periods for anything but cleanings.

Spacing it out over 2 calendar years is a good tactic, though.