As we and our loved ones age, we put a lot of effort (and resources) into making sure a hospital bed is available when needed. New research shows that while that hospital bed may sometimes be necessary, getting up and out of it as quickly as possible is key to recovery. As it turns out, the hospital bed is a huge contributor to old-age infirmity, as studies prove that bed-rest and immobility slow healing and stunt recuperation. A recent New York Times column, “The New Old Age” covered the results of a study conducted by University of Texas physician, Dr….
Growing numbers of families are compensating relatives who serve as caregivers. According to a report by the National Alliance for Caregiving and AARP, 43.5 million Americans looked after a friend or relative age 50 or older in 2009, 28% more than in 2004. In a survey conducted for Home Instead Senior Care, a home-care franchiser, nearly 7% of respondents said they receive compensation for providing care to a relative. Feeding this trend is the high unemployment rate, the costs of nursing-home care, and the 2006 changes in Medicaid law that affects asset protection strategies. Some 37% of caregivers surveyed by…
“When you buy a car or a house, you expect to haggle for the best price. It turns out that you can do the same thing when you shop for long-term care.” There are some things you just don’t haggle about but, perhaps contrary to what you would guess, it turns out that long-term care isn’t one of those things. Long-term care is expensive, to say the least, but as explained in a recent article in SmartMoney, there are some expenses that may be negotiable. Nursing homes usually will not negotiate fees, but you may be able to negotiate with…
If you have an elderly loved one living in a nursing home, especially if they suffer from dementia, you may want to double-check their prescription medications. A recent government audit on Medicare spending shows some rather alarming practices in regard to the use of powerful atypical antipsychotic drugs. As The New York Times reports, nearly 1 in 7 nursing home patients, nearly all of them with dementia, are given powerful antipsychotic drugs even though the drugs are not approved for such use and are known to increase the risk of death, especially in patients with dementia. Ostensibly, the purpose of…
Choosing the right nursing home for a loved one is never an easy task. It can be both emotionally draining and logistically daunting. Still, this legwork is vital, especially in light of recent research reported in The New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) and here in the New York Times Blogs – about the ineffectiveness of nursing home litigation and legal standards. As the NY Times points out, “We tend to think of a lawsuit as a kind of slingshot allowing the little guy to take on a daunting Goliath – a large nursing home chain, say. If you can’t…
Your mother has tithed (gifted) to her religious organization in the amount of $50 per week for years. Additionally, she has given her 10 grandchildren $20 every Christmas and on each of their birthdays. Thus, she has made charitable and small family gifts totaling $15,000 throughout the course of the last five years. Your mother has savings of less than $2,000 and now requires nursing home care. Therefore, your mother will qualify for Medicaid benefits to help pay for her care. However, she will not qualify for benefits because all gifts, even small ones, even charitable gifts, made within the…
In 2009, your father was 80 years old and in reasonably good health. He gave $20,400 to his grandson to pay for college in 2009. However, last month he has a stroke. As a result of the stroke, he is totally incapacitated and in need of nursing home care. However, he is not yet in a nursing home, but his total assets are $2,000. During this month, you inquire about his placement at a nursing home. The nursing home questions you about your father’s finances and any past transfers, and you report the $20,400 gift made for his grandson’s education….
A five-year look-back period retroactively for all gifts or other transfers made for less than fair market value (FMV). Grandfather made gifts of $200 to each of his five grandchildren on each of their birthdays and on one of their religious holidays in 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2010. He is unaware of the Medicaid laws. Grandfather requires nursing home care. Under the Medicaid rules, Grandfather is penalized for all gifts made within a five year period. Therefore, Grandfather is penalized for approximately one and a half months, during which time Medicaid will not pay for his care in the…
Nursing homes and long-term care options are never favorite topics for conversation, regardless whether you are the elderly person needing care, or the family member trying to find care for a loved one. Still, with the fact that 40 percent of adults over the age of 65 will spend some time in a nursing home, the topic is likely to come up at some point. The question is how do you choose the right nursing home? SmartMoney addressed the issue in a recent article, offering up some helpful tips. In essence, the name of the game is research, both remote…
In a study in the journal Health Affairs, that expansion of home-based care can save states money over the long run. The paper looked at Medicaid data from 1995 to 2005. States incurred extra cost when they spent to create new social service programs to care for people at home, but that expense, over time, paid for itself because it was cheaper to care for people at home. Policymakers often cite the "woodwork effect" as a reason to worry about expanding home-based care. This is the argument that if states provided people what they want — home-based care — then…
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