Retirement home residents worried about economy
5:41 p.m. Thursday, September 25, 2008
For many residents at Brewster Place, times are tense. With Wall Street in turmoil, it's not hard for them to remember a similar time.
"When I finished high school in 1929, I went to work...and I saved money and I took two years of college," Virginia Feeley said.
Feeley says the economic situation during the Great Depression shaped her, so now, at age 97, she's secure.
"I was pretty careful with money. I didn't even have my picture taken for the seniors for the annual...but that didn't seem to bother me," she said.
Other residents are not taking the news of the economic downturn so positively.
Tom Akins, VP Brewster place
" Folks here don't have the ability to go out get a better paying job. I think there's a lot of uncertainty, nobody's knows what's going to happen," Brewster Place VP Tom Akins said.
Nursing Home Costs
Across the nation, the cost of nursing home care is going up. But AARP says Kansas is actually one of the most affordable states for nursing home care, at an average of $133s a day. Of the 50 states, Kansas is one of the least expensive, when it comes to the cost of nursing home care. The most expensive state is Alaska, at an average $515 a day. The cheapest is Louisiana at $125 a day.
But we do know what did happen in 1929.
"I remember my mother and father had some money in stocks and it vanished," Feeley said.
On Capitol Hill, leaders tweak the proposed bailout they say will keep the nation from economic chaos, while Brewster Place tries to do their part to calm fears.
"We're going to do a seminar next week where we'll bring someone out to visit with folks about what's going on, allow them to ask questions," Akins said. "It's just lots of questions from folks right now."
One thing nursing home officials do say would affect their bottom line is if money is taken from Medicare to fund the bailout.
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