Americans are living longer, so debilitating diseases such as Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s are rising, making long-term care vital. Long-term care insurance offered those facing retirement a new option to offset the cost of assistance that many require later in life. From daily tasks such as cooking and cleaning to the all-encompassing care provided in nursing homes or assisted-living facilities, long-term care insurance covers many of the expenses that health insurance, Medicare or Medicaid generally don’t. According to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, about 60 percent of individuals over age 65 will require at least some type of long-term…
By upholding the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act, the Supreme Court has preserved—at least for now—major benefits for seniors and key changes in the way long-term care supports and services are delivered and financed, states Forbes. Here are some provisions of the law that directly affect the frail elderly and younger adults with disabilities. Medicaid: The law is filled with important changes to this state/federal program that currently funds nearly half of all paid long-term care services. While the Supreme Court ruled that most of the 2010 health law is constitutional, it threw out one important provision that would…
In Maryland and across the country, baby boomers and other older Americans are drowning in debt, say credit counselors and economists. A growing number of older people in our region are seeking financial assistance and help finding work, as well as filing for bankruptcy. From 1992 to 2007, the percentage of households of people in their mid-50s and older with housing and consumer debt rose from 53.8 percent to 63 percent, according to the Washington-based Employee Benefit Research Institute's research using government data. The problem is even more acute for those 55 to 64, with 81.7 percent carrying debt. Over…
Many families are unprepared for nursing home or long term care planning costs, especially when they find out that Medicare doesn't pay for long-term care. The monthly cost in a private room at a nursing home, is approximately $9,000 per month in our area. The yearly cost is 12 months x $9,000 equals $108,000 per year. Medicare does not pay for long term care. Medicaid will pay for the nursing home, only when you have spent most of your assets. Assisted living is an option where the facility provides personal care services, such as meals, housekeeping and assistance with activities….
Medicare has detailed information about every Medicare and Medicaid-certified nursing home in the country. Before you get started, you or your family member may have other long-term care choices like community-based services, home care, or assisted living depending on your needs and resources. Otherwise, click on the above and follow the steps when choosing a nursing home: Step 1: Find Nursing Homes in your area. Search by name, city, county, state, or ZIP code. Step 2: Compare the quality of the nursing Homes you're considering using the Five-Star Quality Ratings, health inspection results, nursing home staff data, quality measures,…
Emergency plans required by the government often lack specific steps such as coordinating with local authorities, notifying relatives or even pinning name tags and medication lists to residents in an evacuation, according to the findings. That means the plans may not be worth the paper they're written on states the USA Today Nearly seven years after Hurricane Katrina's devastation of New Orleans exposed the vulnerability of nursing homes, serious shortcomings persist. "We identified many of the same gaps in nursing home preparedness and response," investigators from the inspector general's office of the Health and Human Services Department wrote in the…
CBS reports, America, we have a problem that needs your attention: Millions of overweight, out-of-shape, diabetic, heart-clogged boomers are lurching toward their retirement years, thinking they're entitled to trillions of dollars of medical care in their retirement years from a nearly bankrupt Medicare system. The simple truth is that we — individuals, employers, and our government — just won't be able to afford the looming avalanche of bills for the medical and long-term care these boomers will need in the years to come. Noted author and gerontologist Ken Dychtwald, Ph.D., recently summarized the financial challenges we face in his excellent…
Given that seniors are thought to have a significant amount of money sitting in their accounts. Financial Scammers target seniors. Additionally, financial scams also often go unreported or can be difficult to prosecute, so they’re considered a “low-risk” crime. However, they're devastating to many older adults and can leave them in a very vulnerable position with little time to recoup their losses. Also, it’s not just wealthy seniors who are targeted; low-income older adults are also at risk of financial abuse, as it's not always strangers who perpetrate these crimes. Over 90% of all reported elder abuse is committed by…
Medicare does not pay for long-term care, except for 100 days of rehabilitation in a nursing home. Nursing home care falls primarily to Medicaid, the jointly funded state and federal program. The program now is shouldering 40% of the country's long-term-care spending, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation. To be eligible for Medicaid in Maryland, can have no more than $2,500 in cash and investments. (Spouses are allowed to keep a home, a car and up to approximately $110,000.) In the past, regulators looked at any gifts you made up to three years before applying for Medicaid. However, in 2006,…
The Elder Law Office of David Wingate, LLC. has announced the release of “Elder Law Handbook.” The guidebook contains and explains what adult children of elderly parents need to do to make sure their loved ones are taken care of, while ensuring their financial health at the same time. As a community service, this guidebook is free of charge. Please email our office and we will send it too you. As parents age, their children will have to deal with their parents’ health issues, and financial concerns will likely become an issue they will have to face. When the children…
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