Protecting Yourself When the Government Doesn’t

There are numerous combinations of plans available through Medicare, Medicare Supplements and Medicare Advantage that can provide coverage for health issues that you may struggle with if you are a senior. Some of the combinations of coverage work quite well and will cover you quite well. Other combinations fall short.

Even with all that coverage, there is one area that is not covered, and it is something that most people don’t think about and don’t realize – that one day you may need some form of nursing care – either in a nursing home or in your own home – to do even the most basic tasks of daily living. Medicare doesn’t cover that and neither do Medicare supplements. You’ll get a limited number of days in a skilled nursing facility after you’ve been hospitalized. But those programs don’t cover extended “custodial care.”

Medicaid will eventually help, however you will end up in a state run nursing facility. Some of these facilities are basically O.K. right now, many are not, and if you think about how things will be in 10 to 20 years with tax cuts and other issues, it will not be a positive situation unless there are a lot of positive changes with the system.

Most people don’t want to think about it because it’s too far in the future to worry about. It may be too far for you, but it could happen to your parents. There are some ideas, such as taking over your parents’ assets (since you can have extremely few or almost no assets to qualify for a state nursing home) and there are other things you can do, but when it comes down to it there are other solutions available.

Purchasing Long-term care insurance can give you the choice of in-home care, assisted living facilities, or private nursing homes. These are all good alternatives and they do not have to be expensive. In addition, I know of families who work together to pay the premiums so it is easy on everyone. Plus, there are discounts when you buy policies for both parents. Statistics show that nearly 70% of seniors will need care in a nursing home at some point.

The government can only do so much, and lately we are seeing the results of mismanagement as well as the issue of cleaning up and straightening out the mess. Because of this, it is important to protect yourself, your assets and your health wherever and however possible.