What You Need to Know About Long Term Care
Long term care is a subcategory of elder care dealing with the financial aspects of living in an assisted living or retirement facility. Many people don’t realize long term care is included in estate planning because it encompasses what happens to a person’s assets when they pass away. In addition, long term care advice provided by estate planning attorneys is designed to protect assets in a way that extends cash reserves as much as possible.
Five Ways to Pay for Your Long Term Care
During your consultation with an estate planning attorney about long term care, you will learn about Medicare, long term health care insurance, veteran’s benefits, private pay and Medicaid. Some things to know about these primary payment methods:
Medicare–for Medicare to start covering long term care expenses, you must enter an assisted living facility following three days of being hospitalized. In addition, a physician has to certify you need skilled nursing care and that your health is improving due to this special type of care.
Health Insurance–With policy costs decreasing and services provided improving, more seniors are choosing to include long term care health insurance in their estate planning portfolio. Good policies will cover either assisted living, nursing home care, assisted living care or all three. Your estate planning attorney can give you excellent advice regarding long term health care insurance to maximize its benefits and ensure necessary medical treatments are paid for and properly implemented.
VA Benefits–long term care provisions provided by the U.S. Veteran’s Administration can be complicated and involve filling out numerous documents before benefits can be applied to your estate planning arrangement. If you are a veteran, consulting with an estate planning attorney ensures your receive all the benefits to which you are entitled.
Private Pay–savings, income and other assets comprise private pay options for long term care. Your attorney may be able to help you save thousands of dollars of your own money with proper planning of Medicaid resources.
Medicaid--a state-federal program with strict eligibility rules, Medicaid helps pay some aspects of long term care for people who fall within income/asset rules.
Get more in-depth information and guidance about long term care and estate planning by scheduling an appointment with an estate planning attorney at The Mattar Firm today.