Caregiver's Corner No. 4, Medicare and Social Security

In my first Caregiver’s Corner, I mentioned that I would talk about other caregivers and their lives. This tale is one of tragedy beyond belief.

I suppose most of us consider ourselves to be “Teflon coated” in that we believe something bad will not stick to us, but will happen to someone else. Some have said this is what happens with military folks in combat—otherwise they might not be willing to put themselves in harm’s way. It’s always the guys to the right and left of you who are going to get dinged.

In this case, it was not wearing seatbelts that led to a cascade of tragic events. A minister I know, and his wife, were leaving an event in their car when they were involved in a one car accident. The minister survived with minimal injuries; however, his wife suffered a fracture of a cervical vertebra and now is paralyzed from her neck down. She spent many weeks in the hospital but still remains a quadriplegic. Despite months of therapy, very little has changed and the outlook for her is bleak. She requires care around the clock—feeding, bathing, toileting, dressing, transferring—her life is no longer under her control

As you might well imagine, the minister does not have a lot of resources. He is not one of the televangelists or the head of one of the mega-churches with huge amounts of bucks. He is just about as poor as a church mouse. Fortunately, he does have medical coverage through his employer, which includes coverage for his wife. However, I suspect this coverage may well evaporate when he has to retire.

I did not know, but apparently ministers can opt out of paying Social Security and Medicare taxes, but this leaves a big hole in their emergency coverage. Generally speaking, you must have 10 years (40 quarters) of employment where you paid Social Security taxes in order to qualify for Social Security or early Social Security in the event of disability (this is what Carrie has) as well as Medicare. In the disability situation, you become eligible for Medicare after you have been on Disability Social Security for two years. At 55, Carrie is a card carrying Medicare recipient.

In this particular case, neither has the requisite covered quarters and thus many doors that would be open to them are nailed shut. They make just a little too much to qualify for Medicaid as long as she stays in their home. If they would put her into a custodial care facility, they would qualify for Medicaid, the husband could stay in their home and things might be a little better. But they do not want to do this and thus they are in medical limbo.

I know they say Social Security and Medicare are dying on the vine, but I believe that this Nation will resolve this in some fashion. However, there still may be the necessity for some form of “qualification” unless we have universal coverage.

My recommendation for now is to make sure you have the requisite Social Security and Medicare coverage…