What can we do to cover nursing home costs if we can't afford LTC insurance?

LTC insurance proved to be a giant waste of money for my parents. It was very expensive and when my mother went into a nursing home, the policy was burned through completely in an amazingly short time. Nursing home care is so expensive the policies tend to have the effect of simply delaying the time until you need Medicaid. My dad did private pay until it was clear he couldn’t keep that up. Medicaid then paid for her care. The nursing home got mom’s entire SS check monthly and dad kept all of his, all of his pension, all of their savings, and their home. He had to sell one car, but otherwise his lifestyle was unchanged. The big mess for your kids will be manageable if they get familiar with the often changing best facilities in your town, learn the Medicaid application process, and determine to be an advocate for you should you need care.

Way too late in your elder years to even consider LTC insurance. The sad thing is that it often doesn't cover what you need anyway. So you are too late on that one.

You then are in the frame where you look for Board and Care or other facilities you might be able to afford, and that may accept Medicaid when you have spent down your money to the degree required by your State.

I surely do wish you the best of luck.

Just a tip for all seniors get a divorce. Medicare and medicaid will pay for health care if you are broke. It will not leave the surviving spouse broke when they need it the most.

Get the PCP to assign a
" Geriatric Case Manager" or a Licensed Social Worker to the patient. These two professionals help assess the patient level of care needs and, assist the patient's family to learn about the care facility options available to them ; this of course will include them assessing the financial ability to pay , or not, and they can also assist you with appropriate Medicaid application processes if needed or VA Assistance ( if or is veteran or spouse of veteran). Or other resources.....

You may, also benefit from conferring with an Elder Law Attorney who can often be very helpful navigating the mine field of caring for the aging. They can also help you get Medicaid applications completed correctly and timely etc.

Get help from one or all of the above.....

Practice good self care !

I am assuming that you are not in that situation now. If you are, try to get some guidance from MIPPA, a federal program that help seniors pay for medical care and administered by each state.

If you are talking about the future, I would suggest that you talk to an elder care attorney or an estate attorney. In addition, once you have a plan in place, talk to your kids and whomever might have an interest on what kind of care you are being given.

Yes, all this can be with legal docs. However, just talking to the interested parties about this subject will help them in making decisions, if the decision to be made is controversial.

My Mom said that she wanted to live out her life at home. However, she had also told my sister that if she ever had severe memory issues or severe incontinence, it was okay to place her into a managed care home as she didn't want to become a total burden to us. Those statements are our guiding principles in giving her the proper care now.

The bottom line for all this is that the nursing home is going to get all your money, one way or the other. The biggest piece of advice is to put your house under someone else’s name. Do it today! There’s a five-year look back. Otherwise, Medicaid will put a lien on your house, and when you finally die, they’ll take all that money to make up for paying your care. Older people are proud and feel that they’re losing control if they put their house in someone else’s name, but it’s a huge mistake.

Consult with a certified elder law or estate planning attorney. Consider creating a trust. Medicaid covers LTC when one qualifies both financially and medically. Best that you know what that criteria is for your home state.

You have to become indigent in order for the government to help pay for a nursing home. That means that you cannot have any more than $2,000 in savings for the previous 5 years. In some states you have to go to court with all your documentation in order to be proved indigent. Frankly, you should not assume that you will get any financial help from the government. That's just the way it is.

If you cannot afford LTC insurance, then your next option would be to apply for Medicaid. Medicaid is for people with limited income and resources (poor people). It seems that you are planning ahead for you and your spouse’s long-term care so your and your spouse do not have to be a burden on your children, and this is a wonderful idea which we all should do.

In order to be on Medicaid, you will have to be qualified for this program. You should seek the advice of an elder law attorney who would guide you through the process of obtaining Medicaid.

Try not to go in one. Seriously, if you were at the one I'm at right now, you'd go everything to stay out of one

To expand, since the end of DST here, things have gone "off the rails".

In just this week, found out Social Worker is leaving for a better job, an aide has left for a better job, a therapist already another one is leaving next week someone was caught smoking in their room ( a no no), argument between roommates that got loud, leading to one roommate changing rooms, and at this moment a male resident threw something at someone and slapped someone else in the face. "Help help" lady has expanded her vocabulary to "damn you" and "b****. She also had fun with her feces. 😆

The ,"funniest" was the interaction between the ex director and maintenance guy with the maintenance guy making the finger to the side of the head out of frustration with her.🙂

The Executive Director seems over her head with all the goings on that has been happening this past week.