The interesting part is how they're not applied. There are federal statutes that are more specific - and only two states have used these laws within the last 20 years.
There are only extreme corner cases where you need to worry about this.
No one needs to worry, until money gets tight. Then it's every man for himself, and the government will go after you. Or they will stiff the nursing home, and then let the nursing home go after you, like the what happened to the guy in Pennsylvania.
With the government budget situation in many places, and large amounts of people about to become elderly and rack up bills, I would consider it more than a remote possibility in the future.
The interesting part is how they're not applied. There are federal statutes that are more specific - and only two states have used these laws within the last 20 years.
There are only extreme corner cases where you need to worry about this.