If you have to admit your aging parent or a loved one into a nursing home due to a long-term illness you wish, hope and expect, that they will receive good care. However, what is good long-term care look like? An article published in the New York Times attempts to describe some of the characteristics of good care in nursing homes: Staff members who are well-trained in gerontology Sufficient aides to help patients with activities like feeding Caring and respect devoted to each resident by facility personnel Staff who receive sufficient supervision from managers Medical attention by doctors and skilled…
To qualify for Medicaid, if you are single you can retain $2,500 in assets. For couples, the spouse can keep the home, one car, and about $109,000 in assets. The best protection from long-term care costs is long-term care insurance. LTCI does not just pay for the nursing home, but for home-care services, and may help pay some or all of an assisted living facility. If you cannot get long-term care insurance due to a medical decision, age or finances, the next best protection is an Irrevocable Medicaid Trust. However, this trust must be funded for at least five years…
o Would you want the following medical treatments? Kidney Dialysis (if kidneys not working) CPR (used if heart stops working) Respirator (unable to breathe) Artificial nutrition (unable to eat food) Artificial hydration (unable to drink fluids) o Imagine that you are in a permanent coma and dependent on a feeding tube. Would your medical decisions be guided by any particular religious beliefs or spiritual values? o Are some conditions worse than death? If you are housebound, in severe discomfort or pain most of the time, would you want medical treatments to keep you alive? o Discuss your…
A health care agent is a person you appoint to make medical decisions on your behalf if you are incapacitated or unable to make any decisions. A Living Will (Advanced Directive) expresses your wishes about your health care including, but not limited to, resuscitation, life sustaining treatments (respirator, feeding tube, etc.) and withholding / withdrawing of life sustaining treatments. The Living Will is only effective when you are terminally ill or unconscious and unable to communicate your wishes. When it comes to making decisions regarding end of life issues, do you know your wishes or have you communicated those wishes…
Here are seven things to look for if you visit your aging parents. Once-organized drawers are crammed full of old documents, etc. The mailbox is full of donation requests. There's a pile of unpaid bills. There are mistakes in their checkbooks. The refrigerator is filled with expired food. The house is no longer clean. Reminder notes are everywhere.
Your biggest concern, are they safe and making smart decisions before driving. Your aging parents have independence through driving, and it is problematic to remove this. However, they will have changes in their vision or hearing. Therefore, their safety is of the utmost importance. Review the following video from ABC News.
Problems handling finances are often the first sign of cognitive decline. Financial competence involves a complex set of skills, from simple arithmetic to remembering to pay bills to understanding how loans work. Therefore, impaired seniors are at risk not only because unscrupulous outsiders (or their own family members) can defraud them, but because they themselves make self-destructive decisions as shoppers or investors. This is a strong indicator that a dementia diagnosis will follow, often within a year. So how should a primary care physician respond when a family member reports these symptoms? The JAMA article suggests that doctors talk to…
Anyone with Medicare Part B has access to the following preventive services: Initial physical exam. If your Medicare Part B coverage begins on or after January 1, 2005, Medicare will cover a one-time “Welcome to Medicare” preventive physical exam within the first six months that you have Part B. Additionally, those at risk for abdominal aortic aneurysms may be referred for a one-time ultrasound at their initial exam. Cardiovascular screening. Medicare covers one test every five years to check your cholesterol and other blood fat levels. Cancer tests. Medicare covers breast cancer screening (mammograms) once a year for women over…
Millions of Americans are now caring for their aging parents. Aging parents and their caregiving children are in difficult financial economic times. Consequently, the aging parents and their children are entering into legal agreements, “caregiver agreements,” in order to compensate children who are providing caregiving services. In preparing these caregiving agreements, families should consider the following: What types of services are being performed? Therefore, define the duties and responsibilities, of the parent and caregiving children How much compensation shall be paid to the caregiver? What services are being performed? What is reasonable compensation? Have all family members involved in the…
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