Shakespeare was 52 years old when he died in 1616. He lived ten years longer than most of his compatriots, who died on average at 42.
There is an issue whether Shakespeare was in fact Shakespeare, or whether he was Lord Bacon. The Renaissance had begun in northern Italy and had spread to England, but it would be another 150 years before public education took root in England and created records that would have answered the question.
Life expectancy of the average American is now 77.7 years, and increasing.
With the substantial increase in life expectancy, and the scattering of family members in this mobile society, the need for care for elderly and the need for institutions to provide that care has increased as well.
The cost of nursing homes is increasing rapidly. Nursing homes are less expensive as one goes south to the Carolinas or Florida or to the Midwest or into Central America, but in New England it is not unusual to find a charge of $120,000 a year or more for a nursing home. Such costs will exhaust the resources of most families, requiring them to turn to Medicaid for help.
The present national budget calls for $790,000,000,000 for Medicare and Medicaid. The next largest item is about $700,000,000,000 for Social Security, and about $690,000,000,000 for national defense. The burden of Medicare and Medicaid will increase over the next ten years, remain steady for perhaps twenty years, and then rise rapidly again. The federal government pays about half the cost of Medicaid, and the states pay the other half.
The pressure on Medicaid in the future will be enormous. In January I will be mentioning more about Medicaid planning.
The most critical element in Medicaid planning is time. If you have a relative who may need to apply for Medicaid, start planning as soon as possible.
Assets may be protected from nursing home expenses, but preliminary planning is essential. For instance, if assets are to be transferred to children, a five-year lookback applies, and if a home is to be transferred to a caretaker child, that child must live in the home with the parent for two years. Records are vital.
