Fortunately, there are plenty of helpful tools, as indicated below. For your FREE Assisted Living Guide or Nursing Home Guide please contact our office. Also here are a few sites worth checking out: The U.S. Administration on Aging’s Resource Center, which has links to other sites, including the agency’s Eldercare Locator service. The National Association of Area Agencies on Aging, which will let you find your local agency on aging as well as information about housing options for the elderly. The Department of Health and Human Services National Clearinghouse for Longterm Care Information, a guide to long-term-care choices. Medicare’s Nursing…
Barrels of ink have been spilled over Medicare during this year's campaign. There's nothing wrong with that: Obama and Romney have fundamentally different approaches to Medicare and they deserve attention. Romney, for example, wants to increase the eligibility age to 67 and convert Medicare into a voucher system that relies primarily on competition between private firms to rein in costs. That's a big change. At the same time, the actual differences in what the two candidates would spend on Medicare is fairly modest. This is more a fight over means than ends. The same can't be said for Medicaid. Romney…
While the fate of Medicare has drawn the most attention during the election campaign, some seniors and their families may have even more at stake in the debate over Medicaid. Support from Medicaid plays a much less visible but nevertheless essential role as the safety net for middle-class Americans whose needs for long-term care – at home or in a nursing home – outlast their resources. With baby boomers and their parents living longer than ever, fewer families can count on their own savings to go the distance. Maryland citizens who currently rely on Medicaid are diverse. Most people think…
Seniors face a myriad of health, finance and legal issues that can significantly affect their lives and families for years to come. Elder Law Attorneys understand the unique needs of older adults regarding physical and mental limitations and navigating the complexities of retirement living and financial and estate planning. An elder law attorney can help with the following legal issues related to seniors: Health and personal care planning (healthcare decisions, powers of attorney, living wills, disability planning, end-of-life care) Financial planning (employment and retirement issues, asset protection, estate and gift taxes) Long-term care planning (long-term care and disability insurance, Medicare,…
Medicare will pay for the nursing home. Medicare does not pay for long term care at the nursing home. Medicare consists of four parts: A, B, C, and D and is offered to those who are at least 65 years old, less than 65 years old and disabled, or in end-stage renal failure requiring dialysis or a kidney transplant. Medicare Part A pays for hospital stays, some home health care for rehabilitation services, and inpatient rehabilitation services. There is no monthly premium for Part A as these services are covered by payments made through your lifetime payroll taxes. Medicare Part…
1. 70% of Americans who live to age 65 will need long-term care at some time in their lives! 2. It costs approximately $142,000 a year for a nursing home bed at some facilities! 3. 50% of all couples and 70% of single persons become impoverished within one year after entering a nursing home. 4. Medicare does not pay you or your family for long-term care. 5. By using proper Medicaid Asset Protection strategies, Medicaid is available to pay the nursing home costs, without forced impoverishment.
If you qualify, Medicare will cover your home health benefits entirely, and while under the law there's no limit on the length of time you will be covered, in practice coverage is limited. Nevertheless, Medicare home health benefits can mean the difference between you or a family member continuing to stay at home, or your health deteriorating until hospital care or nursing home placement become necessary. You are entitled to Medicare coverage of your home health care if you meet the following requirements: you are confined to your home (meaning that leaving it to receive services would be a "considerable…
Given the choice, most seniors who need help with care would prefer to remain at home rather than move to a nursing home. One choice is to hire help through a home health agency, but how to evaluate the agency? This just got a bit easier for Medicare recipients, who can now see the results of surveys of patients who have used the agency’s services. Findings from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ (CMS) national survey that asks patients about their experiences with Medicare-certified home health agencies are now available on the agency’s Quality Care Finder Web site. The…
Your parents are living into their 90’s. Their savings have been depleted on the cost of care. Consequently, the only assets are their income, maybe a pension and Social Security. However, they still are at home, and need help with cooking, shopping and bathing. You receive a phone call, “I just don’t have enough to pay the caregiver next month.” What will you do? The savings are exhausted. Federal, State and Local Government programs have been cut. Medicare and Medicaid will not pay for the caregiver. Consequently, they may not get any help at all, unless they are in a…
One of the overlooked elements in the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) is that, beyond the individual mandate (and the politics), the act has a number of innovative ideas, and pilot programs easing the lives of people with serious health problems i.e. Alzheimer's Disease. A pilot program for 10,000 people called the Independence At Home program. This is a technique first developed by the Veterans Administration — by which a patient with a chronic disease, like Alzheimer's Disease, is treated in his or her own home by a team of doctors, nurse practitioners, geriatric pharmacists, and any other health professional…
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