Florida Elder Law Blog - A blog by Elder Law Associates, South Florida's premier elder law attorneys, who handle elder law, medicaid planning, guardianships and much, much more.
Once someone enters a nursing home, it isn't always easy to move out again. While some residents may prefer nursing home care to living on their own, others would rather be independent. For residents who want to move out but need some assistance to live on their own, there may be help available. A federal program is trying to help nursing home residents in some states regain their independence.
Residents who have been in a nursing home for a long time may have to start all over again when they move out. They may need help finding a place to live, establishing a bank account, making a home accessible, and locating home care.
In 2005, Congress established a federal program called Money Follows the Person that is designed to make it easier for nursing home residents to move out. Currently, 29 states and the District of Columbia participate in the program, which provides personal and financial support to help eligible nursing home residents live on their own or in group settings. The new health reform law extends federal funding for the program until 2016. The law also reduces the amount of time an individual must reside in a nursing facility in order to qualify for the program, from 180 days to 90 days.
To find out if you are eligible for the program in your state, contact your
Area Agency on Aging. Or ask a qualified
Florida elder law attorney to help you research options.
For an article in USA Today on the Money Follows the Person program that explains which states are participating in the program,
click here.
While leaving a nursing home is a good move for some, it won't work for everyone. The AARP has come up with some questions to ask before choosing to move out of a nursing home.
- Do you want to live independently? You must be motivated enough to overcome frustration and inconvenience.
- Are you able to live independently? People with limited mobility can often manage.
- Can you afford to live independently? Government programs offer a variety of financial help.
- Is in-home care available? Together, a doctor and a transition coordinator can help compile a list of needed services.
- Is appropriate housing available? Requirements vary with health and mobility, and include access, safety features, security, and kitchen and dining facilities.
- Does the home have everything you need? This includes a telephone, emergency contacts, kitchen equipment, and personal care items.
- Does the community offer necessary medical services? Its crucial to identify and perhaps contact in advance doctors, pharmacies, hospitals, and emergency clinics in the community.
- Do you have the necessary skills? These may include shopping, showering, or bathing, preparing meals, budgeting, and paying bills.
- Is transportation available? Many areas have senior transportation programs.
- Is social support available? Options include senior housing activities, religious programs, senior day-care, and family visits.
For the full article from the AARP on moving out of a nursing home,
click here.
Labels: Florida Elder Care, florida elder law, Florida Elder Law Attorney, Florida Medicaid Planning
We recently came across a fascinating news story about a lawsuit that charges the government with illegally denying care to thousands of chronically ill recipients by Judith Graham of the L.A. Times.
Ms. Graham reports that the federal government is illegally denying thousands of chronically ill Americans needed therapies and medical services, five national organizations charged about 3 days ago in a lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Vermont.
The complete article can be viewed at: http://www.latimes.com/health/ct-met-medicare-lawsuit-20110118,0,3160707.story
If you feel you need help with your
Medicaid planning, please contact a qualified
Florida Elder Law Attorney.
Labels: florida elder law, Florida Elder Law Attorney, Florida Medicaid Planning
You may be taking care of elderly parents now or looking at that possibility in the near future. According to a report from USATODAY/ABCNews/Gallup Poll, 41% of baby boomers are helping take care of elderly parents by providing personal help or financial assistance or both. (Again, before making any legal decision, please contact a qualified Florida Elder Law Attorney.)
If financial planning and long term care planning have not been done previous to the need for care, the burden falls on the caregiving family member. Decisions about how care will be paid for, who will be responsible for managing the estate as well as how the long term care will be given can cause stress and contention among family members.
It is best for parents and all family members to be involved in planning for future financial needs. The financial resources being used today could change drastically with the occurrence of a stroke, illness or onset of dementia. In order to plan financially for long term care, you need to know what the costs are now and what they will be in the future.
Every year MetLife does a survey of long term care costs. Their 2010 survey shows that the average daily rate for private nursing home is $229 which is up from $219 in 2009. Assisted living monthly base rate cost rose to $3,293 in 2010 from $3131 in 2009. Home health aids average $21 an hour.
Planning financial needs can be very difficult, considering you do not know when long term care will be required or how long it will be needed. You can determine what will be needed in certain living situations. Staying in your home for care will require professional home care assistance, travel accommodations to doctor appointments, help with shopping, meals, medical supplies and medication and possibly a 24-hour attendant. Even if a family member is doing most of the care, eventually professional care will be required or a move to a nursing home facility will be necessary.
When evaluating your present income and assets consider how they would work for future needs.
- What are my care options?
- What type of long-term care can I afford?
- Do I have long term care insurance?
- Are there assets I can sell?
- If I stay at home how will I pay for care?
- Do I have to sell the house to pay for other living arrangements?
- Are there other financing alternatives?
- Do I have life Insurance or the means to pay for a funeral and burial?
- Will my spouse be cared for financially?
- Should I do Medicaid planning?
- Do I have the legal documents that may be needed?
An article by Thomas Day, Director of the National Care Planning Council, titled “Paying the Cost of Care,” reviews some of the financial options that can be used.
“Tangible assets that might produce enough income to pay for long term care might include investment property such as rentals, commercially leased property, land, a farm, second home or a business..."
"Some individuals are heavy into real estate and short on cash. If the intent was to cash out of the investment at some future point, then a sale is warranted. But, it seems a shame to sacrifice in early years to establish an investment only to throw it away to long term care. It would make more sense to use income from the investments to buy long term care insurance."
Long term care insurance is one option for paying for care. Long term care insurance helps pay for the care you need when you can no longer care for yourself. It can protect your family's financial future and your own investments. There are qualifications that need to be met with health and age. This type of insurance is more expensive the older the person and almost impossible to get if age related illness has already occurred.
Senior Financial Planners, Elder Law Attorneys and Veteran Benefits Consultants can assist you in evaluating your needs and future planning.
Senior Financial Planners are expert in working with seniors and their families to set up long term care plans. They usually work with an Elder Law Attorney and professional care manager to give you all options and resources for care.
Elder Law Attorneys help with Medicaid Planning and Asset Pprotection as well as legal documents needed for final requests.
If staying in your home is a desired option, a reverse mortgage can supply the funds to pay for home care.
Another option for veterans who served during a time of war is the aid & attendance benefit. This benefit provides extra income up to $1,949 to help pay for home care, assisted living and medical costs. It will also pay for widows or widowers of the Veteran. To learn more about qualifications for these benefits contact a veteran benefit consultant in your area.
Knowing your needs and financial resources is paramount before making any long term care decisions. Working together, both parents and family members can ease the stress and burden of elder care needs.
Labels: Florida Elder Care, florida elder law, Florida Elder Law Attorney
Cubans make eldercare work with high touch and a committed attitude.I was privileged to go to Cuba this month as a delegate of the National Council On Aging (NCOA) to learn how the Cuban eldercare system works. The short answer is very well. Elders in Cuba are very much integrated into the everyday life of their families and their neighborhoods. Only the very frail and sick are living in facilities so that they can receive a level of care that cannot be provided in the community.
It is difficult to understand how and why their system works so well without an understanding of their social security, retirement, medical delivery process and the way the concept of neighborhoods interweaves the lives of families with neighbors and longtime friends. To try and explain the interaction of neighbors in a nutshell I will share with you one comment I heard when a family doctor was asked about the use of caregiving technologies such as personal emergency response (PERs) buttons.
"We don't need them, we just raise the window and ask our neighbor for help."
Every neighborhood has an elder daycare center, open five days a week, to which the elders walk and then do group exercises in the street before going inside. The center also provides visits to those who are home-bound. The center includes a therapy center, social worker support, medical attention for minor issues, as well as recreation and socialization activities.
Cubans do not have any extra money to make eldercare work so they improvise. They think outside the box and have managed to build an eldercare program which is emulated in many other countries around the world. The communities and the elders are proud of their system, and they should be.
Labels: Florida Elder Care
