Price Waterhouse Coopers (PWC) is one of the leading accounting/consulting/advisory services out there. They recently published a very informative (and alarming) study considering the real cost of long-term care. The report found that there is more than a fifty (50 )percent chance that an individual at age 65 will eventually require some form of formal paid care over his or her lifetime. Moreover, the figure they assert to estimate that the current average lifetime cost of long-term care is $172,000.
In Florida the average cost of a nursing home is over $9,000 a month! While assisting living facilities may cost less per month (ranging from $2,000-$6,000 per month) when you factor the additional services many families are faced to cover, like additional hours for private duty aides and supplementing services that the ALFs provide, many residents are paying close significant sums month after month.
As a result, many people and their families seem to think that there are no viable options other than to spend down their lifesavings in order to get the care they need. That is not the only choice!
Think about a simple example. If you have worked your entire life and saved as best you could and now you have $100,000 and need to be moved into a skilled nursing facility. If you are not married, Medicaid will only allow you to have up to $2,000 in "countable" assets therefore without proper planning you will likely need to spend down or pay a facility nearly $98,000 prior to being able to get benefits and have Medicaid come in and pay a portion (or nearly all) of your nursing home cost. There are plenty of options out there to consider and ways for you to maximize the benefits of your life savings!
Some people are able to afford or qualify for long-term care insurance and that may be a wonderful option but many people cannot. Whether it is cost prohibitive or just "too late" health wise, long-term care insurance may not work in your or your loved ones situation. As such, you need to reach out to those in the know and figure out what other options exist.
As an elder law attorney, we spend a lot of time and resources educating the public to understand that there are governmental benefits and programs there to assist you and your loved ones in this very important stage of life. From Institution Care Program Medicaid (i.e. Nursing Home Medicaid) to the Home & Community Based Medicaid Waiver (i.e. Statewide long-term care Medicaid) there are options that can help alleviate the financial burden of aging.
Click here to download the full report.