Care Perspectives From Senior Solutions

In a perfect world Mom or Dad’s move to assisted living would be carefully researched and planned out, but often the move is necessitated by sudden injury or illness and can’t be pre-planned. When the unforeseen happens, there is assistance available to insure the smoothest transition possible. Here are six resources for when an assisted living move comes unexpectedly. 

When the difficult decision has been made that mom or dad can no longer take adequate care of themselves or each other, relocation to an assisted living community may be the best option. Senior care can be a daunting concept – emotionally and financially – but there are viable insurance options to help with the expenses. Medicare, Medicaid, Veteran’s Benefits, long term care and other private insurance can all offset the costs. You need to be cognizant of not only the costs of the facility itself, but also the medical and other insurance needs of your senior loved one.

The subject of long-term care insurance is never one that people want to talk about. For those on the verge of needing it, it’s like admitting they are aging, ill and will need it soon. For those who need it, and understand how it works, it is very welcomed. But is it those in between that may have misconceptions about what Long Term Care Insurance is – and how it can be used for an assisted living community. Here are six answers for seniors about long term care insurance and assisted living.

When it’s time to relocate loved ones to an assisted living community, the one of the first questions that arises is “How will we pay for it?” There are many resources out there, but it takes some legwork and research to figure out what programs your loved ones qualify for and which are a good fit for the situation. We hope our article, “10 Financial Options to Fund Assisted Living Care” will be beneficial.

As the adult child of an aging parent, you no doubt do your very best to respect your parent’s life choices and not to intrude with unwanted advice. But, there’s one area where you should weigh in (albeit gently and respectfully) – your loved one’s long-term care financial planning.  

Sometimes, an unforeseen event can force you to rapidly move your loved one into an assisted living community. When a situation like this arises, it can cause financial strain if funding sources are not immediately available – for example, if most of your loved one’s assets are tied up in their home and life insurance policies. A good solution for many seniors and their families is the senior line of credit. This option allows you and other family members some breathing room and time so you can liquidate assets at the best possible return to pay for your loved one’s housing and care and so you can evaluate longer-term financial plans to fund your loved one’s needs.

Medicare and Medicaid are sometimes confused; it’s important to understand that these programs are not the same. While Medicare serves all retirees over the age of 65 who paid into the Social Security system for a specified time period, Medicaid is the health program for individuals and families with low incomes and negligible resources. It is means-tested and jointly funded and administered by the states and federal government. Medicaid is the largest U.S. funding source for medical and health-related services for those with limited income.

This is the first of a nine part series on finding the right senior living community.  This article was written by Jim Moore of Moore Diversified Services (http://www.m-d-s.com/) and published on the Assisted Living Federation of America website (http://www.alfa.com).

This is the seventh of an eight part series on common myths of Alzheimer's Disease.  These myths were originally provided by the Alzheimer's Association.  Senior Solutions has memory care services available at three of our locations and we are committed to being an active part of the Alzheimer's community.  We look forward to your feedback on this series.