<prompt> Human: Long story short, I just got a mailing from the state Medicaid program indicating I owe 10,000 for the years my husband was in a nursing home on Medicaid. Theyre just catching up with their cases. This is in addition to old medical bills of his and recent bills of my own. I am totally shell-shocked. This will take every extra cent I have and not leave anything to pay the other debts. Plus, I am in my early 60s and have no retirement savings. I work full time and realize I will be working full time for the rest of my life, but it wont be enough. This evening Ive been looking at job listings, but its very hard to find part time jobs that coordinate with full time hours, and my age is against me. Feeling desperate - can anyone offer any helpful suggestions? I do have family, but nobody has any money, were all just getting by. Not even sure why Im asking, except that my mind is reeling right now.Update: I am amazed at the response to this. Thank you all for the kind thoughts and useful suggestions. Ive talked to the Medicaid caseworker and found that whoever approved my husbands case pulled incorrect information about my own income; thus, it looked like I was 500 below the standard for community spouse maintenance. In fact, my income was above the standard. Its incontrovertible. I relied on that initial calculation for 2 years, since nobody told me any different. it was an innocent mistake, but still a mistake. My only gripe is that they calculate based on gross income, and unfortunately for me, I was paying big bucks at the time for family coverage under group health. I got a deduction for my husbands portion, but not the rest. My actual W-2 income was two-thirds of my gross.The bill seems large because it was for many months of room and care in a nursing home. I can assure you the charge isnt exorbitant, considering the cost of care versus what Medicaid programs pay. its just the time lag in getting the error corrected that is causing it to run up to be so big. My plan is to contact the nursing home when I get billed, and ask if I can make payment arrangements. I do feel honor bound to pay this, since it is my husbands debt and I used his funds to pay off a different debt. Weirdly, it made me more philosophical when I realized that, if I had had to pay the nursing home in the first place, Id be in exactly the same spot because of having to pay the IRS for a similar amount of back taxes plus penalties. So either way, poor financial decisions and some bad luck would have put me in the same bad position. Maybe I need to rephrase my post to be: How do I make some additional income now, and fast? Assistant: What will happen if you dont pay it?Human: I dont know for sure, but I expect the nursing home will keep billing me. The Medicaid program would have overpaid them, so the state will be taking some of their money back. I looked closely at the states calculations, and unfortunately they appear to be correct. The wild card is a spousal allowance that was given at the beginning, which they are now rescinding. It all makes sense, but its a mess. Also I have a family connection with the nursing home, and it would be embarrassing not to pay this. Besides the fact that I actually do owe it.  <response>: I guess Im just suggesting you consider the real ramifications of not paying it as it may be the best option for you. 