Friday 7 September 2012

How to Fund Nursing Home Care



As more and more Americans reach retirement age and far, far beyond, family members are increasingly faced with the decisions of providing long term care. Long term, home management care is difficult to secure and often much more expensive than people estimate.

There are an abundance of sources of home management care available for people today and almost as many ways to pay for it. There are state, public and private funding resources available to people who need nursing home care but can’t afford to pay for it. State and federal programs like Medicaid and Medicare may help you offset some of the costs.

Before you decide which home management care your family needs you should consider all your options. Also, be certain you inquire about their fee structure, what everything costs and how much you should expect to pay each month. If you still cannot afford nursing home care it is time to start looking at alternative funding resources.

Start by contacting Medicare about what coverage you can expect to received from them. Medicare does not pay for everything, however, so be prepared to contact your state health insurance assistance program for additional funding. These two groups are responsible for assisting the majority of people in need of financial help to pay for their homecare scheduling software each year.  They are specific about what sorts of programs they will fund. For instance, Medicare will only pay for Medicare approved and certified facilities to provide nursing home care.

You might also consider buying a private policy to cover long term care costs. Medicare Supplemental Insurance is available and Long Term Care Insurance is very popular among people reaching a certain age. Both these policies will offset whatever out-of-pocket costs you expect to be hit with. Every plan is different so make certain you know your benefits. What is covered and what is not covered can vary widely between policies and providers.

It is possible you qualify for low-income assistance through Medicaid. Contact your state Medicaid office to see if you qualify. They will also provide you with a list of approved home management care facilities.  Again, there are strict limitations about what sort of care is provided and who can provide it, but Medicaid can be helpful for families with limited resources.

Finally, you might consider setting aside a portion of your personal savings to cover the costs of home management care. You can then set a up special account to make payments to the nursing home facility via direct deposit from savings kept in a high yield savings account. At least you could be earning interest on money you have set aside for nursing home care.

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