So clarify, a dementia patient that wants to stay at home as long as possible must be privately funded. Are their exceptions?
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Personal assets and savings are expected to be used to fund care, no matter what type. If there are no cash savings, selling the home or taking a reverse mortgage may be necessary to pay for expenses. If the senior has no personal savings or assets or home equity to tap, it's up to the family to pay out of pocket. In some states, it's required, no matter if family has the benjamins or not. Google "Filial Responsibility laws." That's why so many seniors end up living with family. They still get whatever Social Security benefit they are entitled to and that is also a major source of income to pay for services and reimburse family for expenses.

Medicare (the health insurance plan for those 65 and over,) and Medicaid (the health insurance plan for those under 65 who are disabled, impoverished or ineligible for Medicare,) pay for MEDICAL expenses and related services. They don't pay for housekeepers, companions, home maintenance, food, etc. on any long term basis. SOME Medicare Advantage plans offer some additional benefits that may fill the gap for a very short term (weeks.)

Meals on Wheels normally has a pre-qualifying assessment to determine if the person is housebound (there may be financial qualifications too.) The demand for Meals on Wheels far exceeds the supply, or so they told me. Once you are approved, the meal delivery could take a month or more to start. And you pay for the meals. There is no specialized meal menu for those who can't eat a standard diet.

Veteran's Aide and Attendance benefits could help some veterans who qualify. My dad served during WWII so he qualified. However, the income requirements are quite low and his Social Security benefit put him over their limit for qualification. The benefit amount would have covered perhaps 1/3 of what he needed for his AL apartment.

My spouse and I noted all these gaps in the system and bought long term care insurance that pays for non-medical expenses as long as you qualify on the basis of inability to manage a certain number of Activities of Daily Living. The LTC policy also pays for spouse or family to render care. We have also aggressively saved and modeled for high expenses when we are in our 80's and 90's since we have one daughter and certainly would not expect her to pay for our care. Saving that much required we scale back our lifestyle vis a vis our peers ( for instance, my car is 14 years old but in excellent condition so I keep it,) but the financial security and having a plan is worth it.
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My 96 yr old father-n-Law will be coming home soon and he is on a pureed diet that looks gross. Is there a food service like Meals on Wheels or something else that would provide the appealing pureed meals like in your pictures? What they gave him in the care facility were awful looking and he does not want to eat it. We are concerned about what to feed him.
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My 96 yr old father-n-Law will be coming home soon and he is on a pureed diet that looks gross. Is there a food service like Meals on Wheels or something else that would provide the appealing pureed meals like in your pictures? What they gave him in the care facility were awful looking.
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My husband has been helping me more and more as the osteoarthritis has progressed in my knees that I can't climb our stairs or do most of the things that I once did. He was only working 8 days a month self employed delivering Avon but the contract went to UPS this year. Does anyone know of any way besides Medicare that could help us financially as I really need him to prepare meals, clean, help me upstairs to shower, remind me of my shots for rheumatoid arthritis and do shots twice a week. With or without him working we can't afford an agency and he already knows what I need. Please help!
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I have checked with United Advantage who I have my Medicare through and they will only pay for an agency and I want my husband to be my caregiver as he has been doing it while working 8 days a month. I have contacted Medicaid, which I have, but they only pay my premium, no benefits. I have checked everywhere and can't find any agency that would pay my husband since my arthritis has become so much worse. Any suggestions? Kathy
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I need information on how to get paid for taking care of parent.
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How can I get paid for taking care of elderly parent?
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My husband has Alzheimers, I still need to work, is there any govt aid for a companion for my husband as I work?
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VA helpful, this is a joke right? Due to my dad's declining health, he is now living with me and I am working full time while I am also his full time caregiver. Since he was in the Air Force, we called and were given a phone appointment with a coordinator. We talked with the coordinator and because my dad did not serve during war time, he did not qualify for any assistance. I was told to submit one of their grants. What hurt the most that my dad who was always so proud to have served our country and who was also on the reserve for over twenty years, was so disappointed.
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I'm in need of hospital equipment for our home.
Just wondering how to get a new hospital bed and have insurance to pay for it.
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Home is the one place your parents find comforting. They know every inch of the home and stay in their home is a sign of competence and capability. Please look at every option to keep them in the home.
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I have my mother living in my home. She is becoming more and more dependent. She takes up most of my day caring for her. I have heard that a lot of families let the sibling that is doing all this work keep their monthly checks after taking care of the parents expenses if any. Why should my brothers benefit from my mother saving her monthly checks when she pasess while I do all the work? Is this common practice with families?
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commented in January that a reverse mortgage was a viable resource for this purpose. I would like to reiterate this and also mention that many people do not have long term care insurance or other resources besides their home equity. I know this seems out of the ordinary but many people that I speak with in their seventies and eighties have very little financial resources. This places greater emphasis on the potential use of a reverse mortgage as a safe effective tool to assist with care.
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My father retired from the US Navy in 1981 after 30 years of service. He did not serve in Vietnam nor was he exposed to Agent Orange. When I called the VA program mentioned in the article, they stated that his widow (my mother) was inelegible for aid because he didn't meet the requirements stated above. What a pity.
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I am my Mothers caregiver. Is there assistance available that would cover the cost to have someone sit with her so that I may have a day for myself occasionally?
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For the kind of care my parents need ('round the clock), home care so far seems to be far more expensive than the fantastic ALF they're currently in. If your folks can handle most tasks of daily living without assistance and just need drop-in help, home care seems affordable, but when they need total care, it's pricey (at least around here).
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For those of you who are looking to get through the red tape of veterans benefits, please contact the VCC or the Veterans Care Coordination. They not only handle Veterans but their spouses as well. They are wonderful, they will even up-front the money for you due to how long the VA takes to approve the benefits. I hope they can help you!
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If an elder owns a large home with a lot of equity, I would have the parent(s) downsize to something more affordable [and on one level]. And put the remainder of the equity into a safe money market where it gains some interest.

Example, my Dad wanted to stay in his large home but the cost of having professional Caregivers from an Agency there 24 hours a day because he's a fall risk, didn't know how to cook or do any housekeeping, was costing him over $20,000 a month.

Cost wise he found if he sold his house and goes into Independent Living it would cost him between $4,000-$5,000 a month, which includes housekeeping, meals in the main dining room, activities, plus caregivers/aides/nurses on-site if he needs them. And he has a 4 room apartment all on one level. Plus he is around people of his own generation. He has already moved in and he's happy as a clam.

Once the house sells, no more worry about unexpected repairs such as needing a new furnace or new appliances or plumbing issues [which he recently had with the house], no worry about shoveling [we are in blizzard mode as I type this] or yard work.

It's something to think about.
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Should a daughter be paid to be a live in care giver?. I don't need the money but I have to pay all utilities and groceries. Two older sisters have POAs. Only one can do the job because Husband is very ill and can't do much. We have three fathers between 5 of us. Two older and two middle and 1 younger sibling have a different parent. Youngest Lives far away, two in the middle (me and brother) same parent. The two oldest have the POA's and different parent. Those who have POA dominate all decisions. I want to have a say in some of the more important parts of mom's want and needs.
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A Reverse Mortgage can provide easy access to home equity that has been built up over time. In turn, these funds can be used for in home care and enable the homeowner to stay in their home. There are some qualifications for eligibility but the loan is a non-recourse loan insured by the government through the FHA program and specially designed for seniors.

A key element to considering a HECM Reverse Mortgage for care is how they stand up against the available alternatives. If you were to pay off a mortgage and debts with savings you would have to deplete your savings to do so and many people simply do not have the savings for this option. In addition, and of paramount importance, a Reverse credit line cannot be taken away or cut back like a traditional home equity line can for non-payment or the perceived decline in value of the home. A Reverse credit line remains in spite of market conditions and the unused portion of your credit will actually grow between 4.5-5.0 percent per year as the homeowner ages. Unlike a traditional home equity line, this means that there will be more credit available each year based on the unused portion regardless of market conditions, and there will never be a monthly principal and interest payment due (applicable taxes and insurance still apply).
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The 'Aid and Attendance' benefit is available to a Veteran and/or a Veteran's spouse (if widowed) I'm pretty sure when both are alive- there's one $ amount they pay. But if it is a widow only- there is a different form and different amount. And it doesn't have to be a war caused disability. War caused disabilities are referred to as "service separated" veterans.
My brothers and I are working on getting this $ to help pay for my parents care- both 90 years old- in decent shape but dementia and general strength issues are causing it to be unsafe for them to be alone in their home and they are just on the brink of needing a facility.
Visiting Angels and other groups like that add up to be quite expensive fast so we are hoping the VA money will help pay for that at first and eventually sell their home and use house assets + SS + the VA $ to pay for them to both be in a care home that is decent. This is part of how middle class families are being bled of their assets in their end days and health care execs are piling up millions.
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There are benefits and funding available through Medicaid and the VA to help pay for homecare.
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A reverse mortgage is a good option. About 80% of my loans are for in-home care assistance because they don't want to leave their home and do not have any asset that can help.. This may be a good tool, but not for everyone :)
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Cascio, every county office building in the US has a Veterans Service Officer. They are a county employee but there sole purpose is to help veterans and surviving spouses navigate the complex VA system. They are a totally free service. I suggest doing an internet search for VSO along with your county and state to get the name and phone number.
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My mother was married to a veteran, which usually indicates she can get Assistance through VA. However, does anyone know how to get through the red tape for Homemaker services as well as skilled nursing (who needs to administer meds)?
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It is a federal law that life insurance companies must allow the payout of the life insurance to cover medical expenses, which does include home care. A great option if the person has a life insurance policy. The percentage of the face value paid out will depend on the number of years the policy has been active and the age of the policy holder.
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Home care aides provide personal care rather than medical care. Therefore, health insurance and Medicare do not help with these costs. Families most commonly use Social Security, veterans and other pensions, savings and / or their home equity through a reverse mortgage to pay for care. Long term care insurance, for the less than 5% of seniors who have it, will also pay for home care provided the plan has an allowance for non-medical personal care. Life insurance policies are used as a funding source as well. They can be surrendered for their cash value or converted to cash by using a life settlement.

Home health care costs, on the other hand, are considered medically necessary and therefore they are covered, at least in part, by Medicare and other health insurance programs.
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