As a prior administrator, caregiver to clients and family, I have learned a lot about the long-term care industry as well as estate plan documents, long-term care policies, insurance coverages, what services in town can provide what service and for how much, the difference between communities and which ones are reputable, have good staffing and leadership, which moving companies are trustworthy and efficient, how valuable and underrated is a hospice program, and how many people believe they can do the entire long-term care process on their own or with their family, and truly have no idea which services or communities in town are genuine and trustworthy.
My services assist with anything and everything under the long-term care umbrella. I strive to educate the public and my clients to be as proactive and knowledgeable as you can when it comes to pre-planning long-term care decisions that you will need to use at some point.
Here are some proactive ways to initiate the process. As I make suggestions, please contact me so I can steer you in the right direction and provide you with a good name or two of individuals/companies that can provide the service you need. I only recommend reputable and trustworthy names.
- I cannot stress this enough that individuals/couples need an estate plan. At the very least you need a Durable Power of Attorney (DPOA) for Healthcare (Medical) and Financial, as well as a Will (all of this is typically called a basic estate plan); to have a full estate plan involves a Trust and other documents, which helps you avoid Probate. If you do not have the DPOA for Medical/Financial in place before something happens to you where you cannot make decisions for yourself and your affairs (i.e. you’re unresponsive in the hospital, been deemed incompetent to make decisions), it is a lengthy and stressful process for your loved ones to legally be able to make decisions for you because they have to go through the court system to be granted guardianship (healthcare) and/or conservatorship (financial). Save your loved ones from stress, time loss and money, and contact me to help you find a reputable and experienced estate plan or elder law attorney. I used to work in a law firm, so I have basic knowledge of what is involved in an estate plan, and price range.
- If you have a financial advisor, begin discussing what is involved with a long-term care policy, and when is an ideal age to initiate a policy. If you do not have a financial advisor, please allow me to help you find a reputable one that truly cares about you and your affairs. Long-term care policies can be very beneficial alleviating cost in a long-term care community. Long term care is very expensive, and any assistance you can receive will be beneficial. Long term care policies only cover assisted living, nursing home, memory care and in-home care (care in the home); it does not cover independent living or 55+ communities. Also, it is difficult to find nowadays a lifetime coverage policy; policies today seem to cover a limited amount of years. The best person to discuss the different policies and the stipulations is a trusted financial advisor.
- Medicaid: it’s growing in the elderly population because people are living longer, and/or they didn’t have the extensive funds when they retired to prepare for long-term care. On top of the growing Medicaid population there are not enough long-term care communities that allow someone with Medicaid to move in; many communities are private pay only. Also, many individuals/couples that can pay privately for a long-term care community do see their funds drying up quicker than expected because long-term care is very expensive, and we are living longer. What do you do? Contact me and I will match you with a trusted elder law attorney that can preserve your assets rather than ‘spending-down’ (common term in long-term care) your funds to meet the governmental threshold to be Medicaid approved. The more proactive you are, the better an elder law attorney can assist you; they can also assist you with the Medicaid application and process.
- Medicare/Supplemental Insurance versus Medicare Replacement Plan: I cannot stress enough that if you have the funds to pay for standard Medicare (65+) and a Supplemental Insurance, please do so instead of paying for a Medicare Replacement Plan. You know that saying, “you get what you pay for”? That saying goes along with which Medicare insurance you choose. As a prior administrator I cannot express enough how often I saw patients with Medicare Replacement Plans NOT get the service they needed in a skilled nursing facility (when you’re discharged from the hospital and need therapy/nursing) because the insurance dictated when the patient would be discharged rather than leaving the decision to the professionals (the community’s therapists and nursing staff). Your standard Medicare is higher cost than a Medicare Replacement Plan, but you get so many more services paid for, and if you get a Supplemental Insurance on top of the standard Medicare, majority of the time you will have no out-of-pocket cost for any medical services. I could write a blog alone about the pros of Medicare versus Medicare Replacement Plans. Please contact me if you need more understanding. I will be able to give you firsthand knowledge of the difference, and what will happen as far as coverage when you need to use your insurance.
- I truly strive to assist every person that contacts me, however, there are times when I cannot give my best service to someone when they need a service or need to move into a long-term care community, and the situation is very urgent (needing something done within 24 hours). I have received a few phone calls of families needing answers and services ASAP. My services can only help so much because there is typically a process to get someone moved into a community (assessment, physician orders, medical documents, admission paperwork, etc.), or services in the home (company’s staffing, assessment, payment, etc.). Some good advice to help yourself, but also anyone that will need to make decisions for you (medical and/or financial) is be proactive of where you’d like to move to or what services you want in your home if something does occur. The last thing you want is to be in desperate mode and pick a community or service in the home that does not meet your preferences or is not reputable, compassionate, and trustworthy. Let my services guide you and/or your family to be proactive of choosing where to go or what services to use in the home when the time is needed. There are not enough communities in Greene County and the surrounding areas to serve our elderly population, which means the current communities typically have waiting lists. Let me guide you and be reassured that I only work for you.
I hope some of these pointers have helped you begin brainstorming. I always tell my client(s) that even though I have partnerships in the community, my only interest is the client(s). My family has gone through the entire long-term care experience (services in the home, independent living, assisted living, memory care, estate plan documents, long-term care insurances, hospice), and through all of it I have gained firsthand experience of what it is like to be on the other side as a family member versus an administrator. Let my company provide you empathy, education, guidance and protection to make the best decisions for you and your loved ones.
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