Long Term Care
What Ifs of life"
Now may be the time for you to consider the "what ifs "concerning Long Term Care. The answer to the question "what are your plans when your health changes?" may dictate the quality of life that you and your family can and will maintain.
The reality is that the longer you live the more likely you are to become chronically ill. And when you live a long life you need care.
Long Term Care is a continuum of care, housing and services a person may need because of a chronic, debilitating or cognitive illness. Whenever possible, the goal is to maintain the individual within the universe he or she created…the home and the community.
Do not confuse the need for a nursing home and the need for care. Statistically, the chances of ending your days in a nursing home are minimal. Becoming ill and needing care does not necessarily translate into the need for a nursing home.
Who Will Provide Care?
Long Term Care consists of informal and formal care. Family members often provide informal care (shopping, transportation, meals, etc.) but are generally either unable or unwilling to provide formal care (bathing, toileting, dressing, etc.).
Two issues arise regarding care giving:
- Who will provide the care?
- What will providing that care do to your family and your finances?
Aging spouses are usually unable to provide care, and children can be torn between parents and family. Moreover, children often move away from parents, and parents often retire away from children.
Having a professional caregiver provide the formal care builds an infrastructure allowing family members to provide informal care. It can maintain the quality of life for all concerned by avoiding the sacrifices many must make between increased attention to a parent and reduced attention to their children and spouse. In essence, it allows children to have a life while honoring their promise of care for their parents.
Family And Finances
A chronic illness of a family member can tear the family apart. Issues of time, effort, expense and finances create stress among siblings, and between parents and children.
And the need for Long Term Care can wreck havoc with finances. How many people have allocated assets for Long Term Care? How many have earmarked any of their retirement funds for Long Term Care? How will the need for Long Term Care effect the finances of the well spouse. What will be sacrificed?
These are realistic questions that require realistic answers. Procrastination, indecision or indifference can only complicate matters, not solve them.
Adopting a Long Term Care plan is up to you. It is a choice you must make to help you protect yourself, your assets, and your family against the burdens--both financial and emotional-- that otherwise may result. Is it your desire to
- Remain independent
- Control kind and location of care
- Avoid financial adversity
- Preserve assets and income
- Control your quality of life
then you have no choice but to create a plan for Long Term Care!
Funding Long Term Care
The are several sources of dollars to fund Long Term Care. These are:
Medicare’s Parts A & B divide care into skilled and non-skilled. Medicare covers only skilled care and a limited amount of rehabilitation services. Non-skilled or custodial care makes up the vast majority of all Long Term Care, and Medicare does not pay for it.
Medicaid is a needs based program. It pays for services in a skilled nursing facility (the last place you want to be), and to a very limited degree in the home.
Self-Funding is generally insufficient to fund long term care needs. Most often, nothing in one's investment/retirement portfolio is allocated to pay for Long Term Care. If you need funding you may have to invade principal, retirement income or other assets.
Long Term Care can result in the greatest diminution of your retirement portfolio. It allows your retirement plan to fulfill the purpose it was intend for. This is a critical issue.
Long Term Care Insurance is a quality of life issue. It helps builds an infrastructure of support, and allows the family to provide the care you want, where you want it, and protects those assets allocated for retirement.
Long Term Care Insurance improves the patient's and the entire family's life by paying for the hands on physical labor of bathing, toileting, dressing, feeding and transferring the patient. It thereby frees the family to spend more quality time with the spouse/parent and other family members.
Think about the "What Ifs of Long Term Care"
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