As discussed in previous articles, Medicare does not cover the costs of long-term care for our elderly population. Individuals who require 24-hour long-term care and cannot privately pay for this health care look to our welfare system, identified in this state as Medi-Cal, to pay for their cost of care. At this time, the dollars being used for the benefit of the elderly within this system is greater than what is available for the remainder of the population Medi-Cal serves. The scale isn’t evenly tipped because far more is used to meet the long-term care needs of our elderly.
One of the best-kept secrets in California and America is the fact that individuals can be held financially responsible for their aged, poor relatives. This responsibility to support is created by statute. California has certain codes which have been on the books regarding the ability to make a child responsible for the parents’ necessities of life, but they just haven’t been used much.
California Penal Code Section 270c states in part: “……every adult child who, having the ability to do so, fails to provide necessary food, clothing, shelter or medical attendance for an indigent parent, is guilty of a misdemeanor.” California Family Code, Section 4400-4405 states in part: “…an adult child shall, to the extent of his or her ability, support a parent who is in need and unable to maintain himself or herself by work… if the county furnishes support to a parent, the county has the same right as the parent to whom the support was furnished to secure reimbursement and obtain continuing support…”
The future can see the application of these codes being used when parents apply for long-term care or Medi-Cal (remember — this is welfare) as changes to