Whether you are caring for your loved one in the home, scrambling to make arrangements for nursing home care or trying to make sure nothing goes wrong in the nursing home, you know how difficult, time-consuming and isolating caregiving can be. Imagine what life would be like if you had a team of advisors helping you get the right care, preserve family resources and make difficult decisions. That’s what life is like when you have a Life Care Plan. A Life Care Plan helps you respond to every challenge created by the long-term illness or disability of your elderly loved…
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…
If you have assets under $2,500, and reside in a nursing home, the State of Maryland through Medical Assistance (Medicaid) will pay the nursing home. However, a house that is a person’s primary residence is exempt for purposes of Medicaid eligibility provided that the community spouse is still residing in the house, and the net value of the house does not exceed $500,000. Additionally, if you are a single, then sign the application that you have an “intent to return to the house,” even if that it’s impossible and you remain in a nursing home. The home is an exempt…
If you are applying for Medicaid, the institutional spouse (spouse in nursing home) and their community spouse (spouse not in nursing home) may protect their assets and lifelong savings, retirement IRA etc. by spending those assets on noncountable assets. These expenditures may include: prepaying funeral expenses, paying off a mortgage, making repairs to a home, purchasing a new automobile, updating home furnishings and equipment, purchasing insurance up to $1,500 buying a new home, if under $500,000, (in some states $750,000) puchasing an annuity In the case of married couples, it is often important that any spend-down steps be taken only…
Residents in nursing homes have the same rights as everyone. However, the combination of an institutional setting and the disability can result in a loss of dignity and the absence of proper care. Consequently, Congress enacted the Nursing Home Reform Law. Basically, it requires that every nursing home resident be given whatever services are necessary to function at the highest possible level. Additionally, the law gives residents a number of specific rights: Residents have the right to be free of unnecessary physical or chemical restraints. Vests, hand mitts, seat belts and other physical restraints, and antipsychotic drugs, sedatives, and other…
Choosing a nursing home for your aging parent or loved one is a daunting task. In an AARP article 89%, over the age of 45, of people surveyed, desire to stay home in lieu of any other type of residential facility. No person wishes to live in a nursing home. And, typically, the search takes place in CRISIS mode, when discharge is impending from the hospital or it's no longer possible to provide home care. Here are a few pointers that may help you choose and evaluate the nursing home: Location, location, location. Location is the most important factor in…
Senior Life Care Planning helps seniors plan for their future and for what happens after they pass away. While it’s not a subject that people enjoy talking about, it’s a necessity for seniors. We help elderly people with all aspects of their current life and assets. One of the biggest areas we can help seniors with is Medicaid planning. Because Medicaid laws are constantly changing, it’s important to start the planning process as early as possible. We help seniors qualify for Medicaid and the benefits that come along with it. Estate planning is another area in which we can help…
Senior veteran households represent 55% of the 22.7 million veterans in the United States. However, most veterans are unaware of aid and attendance benefits. We provided a free seminar on service and non-service connected pensions, recently, with over 120 people attending. Only, one veteran had heard of aid and attendance benefits, and only about 5% of qualified U.S. senior veterans are actually receiving this benefit. Veterans you need to be aware of this benefit to offset the costs of assisted living facilities, nursing homes, and home care. For more information see our previous blogs, including Most Veterans are unaware that…
Clearly, all seniors have a common goal, the need for asset protection: keeping their assets for themselves and their families; not exposing their assets to the nursing homes, and others seeking to deprive seniors of their hard-earned assets.
Hospice is a very valuable service and should be ordered at an earlier stage of illness. Many do not consider hospice for Alzheimer’s, degenerative old age or other debilitating illnesses where a person is going downhill fast. They should. It is unfortunate that many people who died in a hospital emergency room or who received heroic treatments to prolong life in a hospital may have had the alternative of dying at home in familiar surroundings, with family or other loved ones at their side. When someone is in crisis or appears to be going downhill fast but there really is…
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