Long Term Care Planning

Planning for long term care is a very important decision. You want to plan and think about your long term care plans before you need care or a crisis occurs. Planning ahead will allow you to better assess you options. It will allow you to talk with your doctors about your health and potential future problems, as well as discussion your plans with your family including how much your planned services will cost, and how you plan on paying for them.

Remember that the best time to plan for long term care is before you need the services. The following are some steps and guidelines to help you with your planning:

Assess Your Needs

There are many different kinds of long-term care. Long-term care can take place in your home, in senior centers, at community centers, in assisted living or special retirement communities, as well as in nursing homes. Long-term care service is not only nursing home care.

IMPORTANT NOTE TO CONSIDER: Medicare will not pay for most long-term care. Medicare pays only for medically necessary skilled nursing facility or home health care. You must meet certain conditions for Medicare to pay for these types of care when you get out of the hospital. Most long-term care is to assist people with support services such as dressing, bathing, and using the bathroom. Medicare doesn’t pay for this type of care, which is often called "custodial care". Custodial care is care that helps you with activities of daily living. It may also include care that most people do for themselves.

The chart below lists some of the many kinds of custodial care people often need, like help with activities of daily living or care most people do themselves. Think about whether you need these services now, or if you may need them in the future. Check off the services you think you may need.

You may need help with only one or two types of activities of daily living, like help with eating or bathing. Or, you may need help with many activities of daily living or help with care needs, like diabetes monitoring or help with oxygen if you have breathing problems. Also, your needs may change over time. It is important to make a list of the kinds of services you need and revise this list as your needs change.

Research Financing and Care Choices

Quality care means doing the right thing, at the right time, in the right way for the right person and producing the best possible results. The Medicare program regulates and enforces rules to ensure that nursing homes, home health agencies, and hospitals comply with federal standards for patient health and safety and quality of care. However, the quality of long-term care programs, services, and facilities may vary.

Here are some ways to learn about how long-term care programs and services in your area rate in quality:

Ask friends and other people you know who use different kinds of long-term care services if they are happy with the services they get.

Call your State or local Long-Term Care Ombudsman. Ombudsmen visit nursing homes and other long-term care facilities regularly to visit residents and take care of complaints. Your local area Ombudsman can also give you information on the most recent State inspection survey for long-term care facilities in your area. You can find their telephone number in the Helpful Contacts section.

Look at the Nursing Home Compare and Home Health Compare sections on this website. You can also find out if a Continuing Care Retirement Community is accredited from the Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities website.

Call your State Health Department. Ask if you can get information on the quality of nursing homes and other long-term care facilities and services in your area. You can get the telephone number of your State health department by looking in the blue pages of your local telephone book.


Determine Which Options are Best for You

Quality care means doing the right thing, at the right time, in the right way for the right person and producing the best possible results. The Medicare program regulates and enforces rules to ensure that nursing homes, home health agencies, and hospitals comply with federal standards for patient health and safety and quality of care. However, the quality of long-term care programs, services, and facilities may vary.

Here are some ways to learn about how long-term care programs and services in your area rate in quality:

Ask friends and other people you know who use different kinds of long-term care services if they are happy with the services they get.

Call your State or local Long-Term Care Ombudsman. Ombudsmen visit nursing homes and other long-term care facilities regularly to visit residents and take care of complaints. Your local area Ombudsman can also give you information on the most recent State inspection survey for long-term care facilities in your area. You can find their telephone number in the Helpful Contacts section.

Look at the Nursing Home Compare and Home Health Compare sections on this website. You can also find out if a Continuing Care Retirement Community is accredited from the Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities website.

Call your State Health Department. Ask if you can get information on the quality of nursing homes and other long-term care facilities and services in your area. You can get the telephone number of your State health department by looking in the blue pages of your local telephone book.

Before you make a final decision about long-term care, call and ask for information about the program or facility. Visit the places you are interested in. These places can be assisted living communities, services in senior centers, housing programs, nursing homes, and other programs. Make an appointment to talk to the program coordinator or care supervisor before you visit. Here are some tips to help you get ready:

Talk with your doctor or other health care provider and with your family about what long-term care services you need now or may need in the future.
Go over any information you have already received.
Write down any questions you still have about how the facility or program will meet your needs.

When you visit, look around carefully. Ask questions about anything you dont understand. Talk to staff, residents, and family members if you can. Ask them if they are satisfied with the facility or program and its services.


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Senior Money Management Tips

The following are sound money management tips that all seniors should consider. If followed these tips will help make your and your families life's easier in the event of an emergency.

Make sure your family knows where important documents are located

If you feel reluctant to share this information with your family and friends, set it up so that they can only access the documents only after you have passed away or been incapacitated. Your family must know how to get access to these important documents in the event of an emergency.

Sign up for automatic bill payments

Try to get as many of your bills on automatic payment plans where the money is paid electronically out of your checking account. This will make life easier on your loved ones and prevent delays in bill payments.

Direct Deposit Checks

This will eliminate delays in getting funds or the possibility of checks being lost or forgotten.

Make sure you have adequate insurance coverage

Make sure that you have enough of the proper insurance, so that you don't burden your family in the event of an emergancy. Also refer your policies and make sure that their aren't any overlaps in coverage this is costing you money in extra premiums.

Establish a Will or Estate Plan

A proper will and estate plan can help your reduce the taxes on your estate upon your death.

Write up a 'living will'

It is a good idea to have a living will that outlines the type of medical care you want in the event of an emergency. You should also consider a 'health care power of attorney' that allows a family member to make decisions about your medical care in the event of an emergency.

These are just some simple tips and should not be construed as financial advice. We recommend that you seek professional advice in regards to your situation to determine if these tips are right for you.

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