Last week I meet with a man who recently moved his father into a nursing home. His father doesn’t have much money and doesn’t have long-term care insurance. His only option for getting the care he needs is through Medicaid. Medicaid is a true godsend for many people, but it requires that a person have next to nothing as far as assets. As you can probably imagine, facilities that accept Medicaid are not very nice. I’ve visited my fair share, and I always leave feeling a little depressed. The man I met with expressed similar feelings. His description of where his dad is: “gross and depressing.”
If you haven’t researched the costs of a nursing care, take a look. It’s sobering. There are 3 ways to pay for long-term care:
Self-pay
Long-term care insurance
Medicaid
So, what’s the point of this post? It’s not to bash Medicaid or facilities that accept Medicaid. It’s a call to action. If you don’t have long-term care insurance, look into it. The sooner the better, because it gets significantly more expensive the older you get. If you don’t know who to talk to about it, contact me and I’ll give you some referrals. The man I met I with was so affected by his dad’s current situation, that he went out and got long-term care insurance for him and his wife. He didn’t want his wife or kids to have to go through what he’s going through with his dad.
Like I always say to my clients, you’re not planning for yourself. You’ll be incapacitated or dead. You do it for your family and friends who will have to take care of you. Make the decision today to get your estate planning affairs in order. Contact me today for your free consultation.