Long Term Care Regulation

Regulation is a very important discussion in Long Term Care because many of the providers are funded by Medicare and Medicaid. Medicare and Medicaid are government run programs for the elderly and disabled to assist them with their healthcare. There has to be a large amount of regulation on the providers to make sure that the patients are getting the proper quality care and that fraud is not happening. A provider can report a different number of patients then collect a larger check from medicare or medicaid program.

Certain facility types must maintain yearly certifications with inspections form the state or federal government to ensure they have the proper quality care. The proper quality care has been defined by the government to make sure that the patients are given the proper respect and dignity. There have been requirements set in place to ensure these rights like the patient bill of rights that all healthcare administrators must follow. This bill of rights lets all paitents know the rights that they are provided at all times no matter what. This ensures the quality of care is set to a standard.

There are certain aspects of long term care that are not as heavily regulated as assisted living facilities or nursing homes like adult daycare centers. These centers with lower regulations have less funding going to them and also allow more people to capitalize on this opportunity and bring forward more centers to serve the American people.  Another thing to keep in mind is that the regulations are not always set by the federal government but most of the time set by the state government and that they vary from state to state.  This is because there are different needs for different populations around the United States. In the end regulation is a good thing to help out patients receive care and administrators to have a standard.

Financing Long Term Care

Payment for Long Term Care has always been a hot topic, since most of Long Term Care is paid for by Medicare  or Medicaid.  The few people who do not pay medical bills off of the government  plan are usually looking forward to spending off their assets to make themselves eligible  for Medicaid.  As people get older they are sometimes required to spend off their assets since they have to much money to qualify for Medicaid.  Sometimes this means trusting your kids with large amounts of money and assets.  This is called spending down your assets.  This situation of spending down assets happens more than you think in long term care.

There are other ways to pay for various Long Term Care services other than Medicaid and Medicare.  As you age you can put money into a certain type of insurance called Long Term Care insurance that will pay for certain types of long term care that is described in your plan. This insurance is different than your typical insurance and is usually a different payment that you will want to add onto your monthly bills as you age.  This makes it easier on your kids and allows your wishes to be conveyed easily.  A hard task along with financing Long Term Care is also conveying the wishes of the person to make sure that all of their wishes are being taken care of in  the best way. I know in my family, my grandma has dementia and my mom sees that the best thing to do for her is to put her into an assisted living facility but, my grandpa is very opposed to it because there will be a gap in their income of monthly checks and what it cost to live there.  This gap in income would have been covered if they were under Long Term Care insurance from when they were young and healthy years ago.

Should you not have insurance, medicare or medicaid you will be paying out of pocket, this is what facilities and hospitals like to hear the most since they make the most margin of profit on you.  So at that point people need to watch out to make sure that all the procedures that are being ordered are medically necessary and everything is done correctly the first time.  Elderly people do not have a lot of extra room in their spending budget for medical expenses so many will look at all their options from home health care to assisted living facilities. There are many different care options that will suit people of all income levels to make sure that everyone is given proper respect and attention. So we all need to watch out for ourselves and the elderly ones we love.