What Nobody Will Tell You About Elder Care.
What makes my Action and Implementation Program unique is that I look at elder care from the caregiver’s point of view. My experience and that of many other care givers is summarized below:
Contact Medicare 1-800-633-4227 or Medicare.gov for information about Medicare and how it can help pay for your parent’s care. Medicare paid for my father-in-law’s dialysis, hospital stays, rehab stays, hospital bed rental and visits to the doctor. Between Medicare and AARP supplemental insurance most of his care was covered. We estimate that his care over seven years cost close to $1,000,000.
Medicaid is a Federal and state health insurance program for people with limited financial resources. In determining what are financial assets your elderly parent’s home, furniture, car or insurance policies with a cash value of $5,000 or less are not counted as assets.
The guidelines for what is covered vary from state to state and the amount of money available to pay for Medicaid covered services are subject to political forces. To find out what those guidelines are in your state and which program is the best for your elderly parent, contact your local Area Agency on Aging.
The Qualified Medical Beneficiary Program is for those people who are at or below the poverty level which is defined as $4,000 in financial assets for an individual or $6,000 for a couple. The state will cover the premiums and deductibles.
Specified Low Income Medicare Beneficiary Program is for those people who are 10% above the poverty level.
If you plan on using Medicaid for your elderly LO you should contact an elder law attorney who specializes in filing Medicaid applications. The attorney will also advise you on how to manage your LO’s financial assets.
You need advice of what expenses are eligible and which are not. You do not want the state to come after you to reclaim money to reimburse it for the expenses they covered. Go to naela.com for a listing of elder law attorneys.
Hospitalization, doctors’ visits, and medications are covered. Not all doctors take Medicaid so you have to find one that does and be prepared to wait for an appointment. If you can’t wait for an appointment then you will have to go to the emergency room for treatment.
Most states have a waiver program that pays for services at home instead of placing your LO in a nursing home. If your LO qualifies for admission to a nursing home but would prefer to live at home you might be eligible for PACE (Programs of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly). Your LO will be provided with all that he/she needs to live safely in their home.
Visit Medicare.gov/Nursing/alternatives/PACE.asp for more details.
Call your Area Agency on Aging or the State Health Insurance Assistance Program (SHIP) for information on the PACE program or any other issues regarding Medicare or Medicaid.
Medicare HMO
If you don’t want Medi-gap insurance you can enroll your elderly parent in a Medicare HMO. He/she has to keep Medicare A & B but they use the doctors and hospitals in the HMO. One nice thing about an HMO is that it covers preventative care that is not covered by Medicare. An HMO also covers hearing aides (if you can your LO to wear one), dental care, and eye glasses. You pay monthly premiums to the HMO.
One time when we were taking care of my father-in-law I was explaining the costs involved in elder care, a befuddled person asked me, “Well, doesn’t Medicare cover everything?” The short answer is that Medicare does cover a lot but it doesn’t cover everything.
In the August 3rd issue of Time Magazine Nancy Gibbs wrote an essay about the assisted suicide of an elderly British couple. Ms Gibbs raises some very interesting issues. (more…)
A recent report on the local news station said that out of pocket expenses for caring for an elderly parent averages $550 a year. These are non-reimbursable expenses and they are just the tip of the iceberg in terms of what elder care costs. (more…)
I wrote many times about the need to plan as much as possible for what you have to do to provide excellent elder care. I also advocated that you get your relatives on board to give you the support you need.
A recent article in a local newspaper describes a service has taken both ideas to a new level. (more…)
I found a great resource especially for those who are providing elder care at a distance. It is a book titled Paradise Costs by Irene Masiello. Irene describes what she went through when she tried to take care of her father who, years before, moved from New York City to a small town in South Carolina. (more…)
If you have to start providing home care for an elderly parent(s) and you haven’t done the financial planning, there are three easy ways to get a handle on the process. (more…)