Three More Avoidable Heart-Breaking Mistakes If you’re thinking about surrendering care of a loved one to a nursing home, your losing sleep worrying if it’s the right decision. It’s one of the most distressing times you’ll ever face. As a senior advocate, financial planner and paralegal, I've watched families make serious mistakes with nursing homes simply because they did not “know the ropes”. In a previous article I mentioned two critical but totally avoidable mistakes families make. Here are three more to watch out for Mistake #3. Not knowing how to properly check out a nursing home. Since most of us have never faced this issue before, we have no frame of reference to judge the quality of the facilities we visit. Let me warn you: it will be overwhelming and confusing. You're under pressure from the medical establishment to make a decision quickly. Plus, you have no idea what you are doing or how to do it. Like anything else in life, to make good decisions, you must first educate yourself. Your first destination is the Internet. Educate yourself. Accurate information is the best antidote for confusion. There are a number of great information sites that cover more specifics than space allows in this article. Particularly check out ElderWeb.com and National Citizen's Coalition For Nursing Home Reform.. Each offers a wealth of reliably useful information. Mistake #4. Not getting expert help. Get competent legal guidance. I can’t emphasize this point enough. Finding and paying for nursing home care is a highly specialized process. You’ll face a flood of rules and regulations that change all the time. A misjudgment can be costly. You'll be signing a blizzard of documents at the nursing home. Many will have significant health and financial implications. To avoid hidden cost and unpleasant surprises, seek proper legal guidance before you sign anything! Metropolitan Life reports on nursing home costs across the country every year. Their latest survey shows nursing homes cost as high as $20,000 per month! No, it's not a typo. That's the monthly cost in Alaska. Cost in the lower continental range from $3,500 to $9,000 per month. Costs in larger cities are generally higher than cost in rural areas. No matter where you live, it's agonizingly expensive. Mistake #5: Believing Medicare pays nursing home costs. It doesn't. The only public program providing relief from outrageous nursing home costs is Medicaid. Not knowing the difference between the two programs can cost you thousands of dollars. Medicare is an entitlement program available to virtually everyone over the age of 65. Most families falsely believe it pays for all medical care. In the nursing home, Medicare only pays for skilled care. And only for a limited time period. For the first 20 days it picks up 100% of covered costs. For the next 80 days, it pays 100% after a deductible (currently $101 per day this year). There's another catch: if you don't continue to show progress with therapy, benefits cease…often without much warning. Don't rely on Medicare to pay nursing home care. Medicaid (Medi-Cal in California) is a joint program of the Federal government and each participating state. (To my knowledge, all states provide Medicaid services.) Medicaid provides extensive coverage for nursing home room, board and medicines. The drawback: it's means tested. To qualify, the patient (and spouse, if married) must meet strict income and assets limits. Don't tackle Medicaid Estate Preservation as a do-it-yourself project. It's much to complicated and the stakes are too high. Depending on the skills of the attorney and the laws of your state, you may be able to protect significant amounts of your life savings. In Houston, I personally know many families who have protected 100% of their savings. Top notch guidance from an elder law attorney experienced with Medicaid can get you benefits without burning through all your life savings. Warning: Don't rely on your family attorney. A general practice attorney just can't keep up with all the rule changes. Find an elder law attorney skilled in nursing home matters. The National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys has a handy directory searchable by city and state. Use it to find an experienced attorney you like. ---- Check it out at nursing-home-tips.com.
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