Trapped in America's Safety Net

At the age of sixty-five, the likelihood of needing home health care at some point in one’s remaining years is 72 percent; the likelihood of needing nursing home care is 49 percent. 33 As disability law expert Sam Bagenstos notes, “If we live long enough, we’re all going to have disabilities. That’s one of the things about the disability community. We’re all going to be a part of it, if we’re lucky.” 34 And yet in the United States, the only way for us to get public help with these expensive needs is to spend down our assets to the poverty level and Medicaid eligibility.