According to MetLife's National Health and Retirement Study, the percentage of adult children spending time and money on their parent's care has tripled in the last decade and a half. This comes as no surprise to me, as I see the rising long-term care costs, the economic downturn, and failure to plan ahead for senior care places. Therefore, many families are in tough situations when a loved one ages and needs extra day-to-day care. The MetLife data found that roughly a quarter of all adults are currently providing at least some financial assistance to their parents. A similar survey from…
CMS has a wealth of publicly available summary statistics regarding enrollment, spending, treatment patterns, cost sharing and other topics for both Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries. This information can be accessed through the Medicare & Medicaid Statistical Supplement website. The site includes statistics on the following topics: Personal Health Care Expenditures Medicare Enrollment Medicare Program Payments Medicare Cost Sharing Medicare Short Stay Hospitals Medicare Skilled Nursing Facilities Medicare Home Health Agencies Medicare Hospices Medicare Physician Services Medicare Hospital Outpatient Services End Stage Renal Disease Medicare Managed Care Medicaid Medicare Part D There is data available from 2001 to 2010.
Providing asset protection, support and guidance to families, I realize that the cost of care is not usually understood. Our typical client is not aware that planning for care is similar to planning for a child's education; there is a need to plan ahead or you may not end up where you want to be or end up paying too much. The need for planning is becoming more important as our nation's demographics are evolving to a situation that has never been seen before. The nation's population of senior citizens is about to rise to historic levels. By year's end,…
LTCI protects your assets and income from the costs of care, as pays for a caregiver in your home or helps pay for the assisted living facility. The MAPT protects assets, like your home and your life savings, but it does not protect your income (pensions, social security, interest, dividends, etc.). The MAPT has no positive effect in terms of providing care. However, in the event LTCI is unavailable to you for medical or financial reasons, the MAPT is a wonderful tool. With the MAPT in place five years before you go into a nursing home your assets are protected….
They need to plan how to protect their savings and other assets as the cost of their care increases. They need legal strategies to make sure their estate does not get taxed more than it needs to. And they need to appoint a responsible spokesperson to act on their behalf if they become no longer able to do so themselves. While these decisions can certainly be made with the help of friends, books and Internet forms, it’s also a good idea to consider talking with an eldercare attorney. An eldercare attorney listens to you and your wishes, and helps you…
More than 65 million Americans provide more than $350 billion a year in uncompensated care to friends and family members. Now, with older populations growing rapidly, the need for caregiving is rising, just as a brutal economic downturn is making money increasingly tight. In response, some family caregivers are being paid for their work, usually by an aging parent. And while authoritative numbers aren't available, David Wingate, elder care attorney states” they're seeing more families creating caregiver agreements.” However, he cautions that agreements need to be extensively documented and must stand up as arm's length contracts. Furthermore, family members involved…
One of the many issues that you may be faced with is the need for placement, for your loved one or aging parent, in a skilled nursing facility and the problem of financing that care. We will assist you with obtaining Medical Assistance (Medicaid) coverage for such placement. We work with you and your loved one or aging parent to structure the elder’s assets so that the elder is eligible for such coverage. We also advise you and your family about family coaching and care management to ensure that the elder obtains the best quality of care which he or…
Learning to cope with Dementia, maintaining a loved one’s dignity as they become more dependent… most of us are not equipped to navigate these issues. Moreover, uninformed (even though well-intentioned) legal, financial and medical decisions can have negative and long-lasting impact. We help family members ensure the best care for their loved ones by: Eliminating confusion around medical, legal, and financial options Preventing a crisis and unnecessary hospitalizations Reducing miscommunications among family members, with the loved one, and with other professionals Creating a comprehensive life care plan that anticipates and addresses problems Acting as a liaison to families at a distance,…
A mistake in elder-law estate planning is failure to regularly review the plan. At a minimum, each client's estate plan should be reviewed every three years to determine whether changes in the client's personal life, such as health, assets or family history (births, deaths, marriages, divorces, etc.) might require changes to the plan. Similarly, changes in the law may lead to changes in the plan. It is unrealistic to expect a plan established today to be effective 10, 20, 30 or more years in the future. Over time, clients may want to change their backup trustees or plan of distribution….
We are to help you find nursing homes. However, if you want to do it by yourself, here are some steps so you can find a good nursing home and avoid a bad one. Make a List: Start by contacting the Department of Aging for a list of local nursing home facilities. Ideally, the facilities should be close to family members and friends who can visit often. Residents with frequent visitors usually get better care. Do Some Research: Every year, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services collect data on more than 15,000 nursing homes throughout the country. Health inspection…
Frederick, MD 
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