Category Archives: Long-Term Care (LTC) Planning
Long-Term Care Planning In Massachusetts: Does Medicare Cover Nursing Homes?
Senior Living reports that the average monthly cost of a private room in a nursing home in Massachusetts now exceeds $14,300 per month. While that may be the average, the most common cost is $550 per day or $16,500 per month. Either figure is an extraordinarily high figure. This raises an important question: Does… Read More »
How to Be an Effective Advocate for Elderly Parents
Family caregivers must also understand their loved one’s wishes for care and quality of life. They must also be sure those wishes are respected. Further, it means helping them manage financial and legal matters, and making sure they receive appropriate services and treatments when they need them. AARP’s recent article entitled “How to Be… Read More »
Protect Your Estate from Nursing Home Costs
Nursing home care is expensive, costing between $12, 000 to $20, 000 per month, so most seniors should do all they can to prepare for this possibility. According to a recent article from the Times Herald-Record, “Elder Law Power of Attorney can save assets that would go to nursing home costs, ” this is… Read More »
How to Plan for Spouse’s Medicaid
Medicaid eligibility, assuming that you require long term care and have satisfied the medical eligibility requirements , is essentially a two-prong test or analysis of assets and income. That is, there are restrictions on the types of resources that you can have when you apply for Medicaid, specifically with regard to assets, if you… Read More »
How to Help Care for Yourself when Caring for Dad
More than a third of family caregivers rate their job as highly stressful emotionally, and almost 20% report a high level of physical strain, according to the “Caregiving in the U.S. 2020” report from AARP Public Policy Institute and the National Alliance for Caregiving (NAC). According to AARP’s recent article entitled “Respite Care: Create… Read More »
How Does Family Pay for Parents’ Care?
Women 50+ who leave the workforce to care for a parent forfeit an average of nearly $325, 000 in wages, future Social Security benefits and retirement assets. Reducing their hours or leaving a job may mean buying health insurance, while also paying for caregiving-related expenses—like medications and gas for driving their parent to doctors…. Read More »
Affordable Long-term Care in the US is an Urgent Priority
The challenges ahead are many as AARP reports that the population age 85 plus, the most likely to need long-term care, will more than triple between 2015 and 2050. Elected leaders must rethink institutional care and its affordability and make improvements while creating innovative long-term care options for those Americans who are aging in… Read More »
Which Medicare Expenses will Increase in Cost Next Year?
Several premiums and deductibles for those seniors with the traditional Medicare health insurance are increasing for the new year, the federal government announced in early November. Money Talks News’s recent article entitled “These Medicare Expenses Will Jump in January” reported that the rising costs include the following: The 2021 Medicare Part B standard premium… Read More »
How Should I Go about Researching Assisted Living Facilities?
This can be a daunting task because there are so many different types of facilities to care for aging seniors. Each type has different services and accepts different payment sources. US News & World Report’s recent article entitled “What Is the Best Way to Research Assisted Living Facilities?” says that there are plenty of… Read More »
The Coming Collapse of Long-Term Care Health Insurance
Routine estimates predict that about 50 percent of older adults will require long-term care at some stage of their lives. If you are an adult 65 or more, the percentage moves up to 70 percent. However, the demand for long-term care far outnumbers an affordable or even existing supply. For years the private sector… Read More »