Navigating Paying for Long-term Care
Whether someone currently needs long-term care or is thinking ahead to potential future long-term care, the anticipated cost can be burdensome or even worrisome. The cost of care can fluctuate based on the facility and the level of care needed, but is a large monthly expense in any event.
When looking at how to pay for long-term care, there are several sources. The first source of payment is typically Medicare. Medicare benefits are available to individuals once they reach a certain age and regardless of assets or income. Medicare typically provides good medical coverage, but only covers limited nursing home care. When it comes to nursing home care, Medicare will pay for a certain amount of rehabilitation days, after a qualified hospital stay, typically up to 100 days. However, Medicare can stop coverage once it is determined that progress is not being made and does not cover 100% of the daily cost for all of the 100 days.
Once Medicare stops paying, the next source we look to is long-term care insurance. Long-term care insurance is typically a separate policy that one has that specifically covers long-term care (usually reimbursing a certain dollar amount per day). These are great policies if someone has one, but they can be expensive and in my experience, most seniors do not have these policies.
We then look to Medicaid benefits. Medicaid benefits differ from Medicare, in that they must be applied for and there are certain asset and income requirements that must be met in order to be eligible. Due to the stringent asset and income limit standards, one common misconception is that only those with no income, assets, or net worth qualify for Medicaid. Fortunately, there are many assets that Medicaid does not consider toward the asset limit, and through planning, the countable assets can be protected. In short, even someone with significant assets may still qualify with proper planning in place.
Paying for long-term care can be a huge expense, but thankfully there are benefits available to help cover the cost of care, and fortunately there are options available to protect assets in the process.
About the Author:
Michelle Findley is an elder law attorney and the owner of Findley Law. Findley Law focuses its practice on estate planning and elder law, which includes assisting families navigate long-term care, and qualifying and applying for Medicaid benefits.
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