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.