...of Good Money Management

Talk It Out:
Planning for the Care of An Elderly Parent

 

"I am trying to plan for my mother's possible future expenses (she'll be 87 in December). I wondered if any of you have done research on estimating elder care and other ‘late years’ expenses. Do you have any ideas on where I should look for guidance?" ~ Sue


Responses:
 
"We have found that costs can steadily increase as a person ages, but if the mother is over 65, Medicare will cover 80% even for wheelchairs. Once they are bedridden, things get more complicated.  But Medicare will pay for 30 days of home health care after a hospital visit.  Even if they can travel only by ambulance, Blue Cross will cover most of the expense.  If you are both working, however, and have to hire sitters at $12 an hour, it can be even more expensive than a nursing home once they need 24-hour care. Getting a doctor, even to do prescriptions, can be very difficult once they are homebound." ~ Anonymous

"If Sue lives in the U.S., tell her to ask about this at her local Area Agency on Aging. This is a governmental agency and it may be affiliated with a Council of Governments or similar organization. Usually, they have eldercare experts and an Information and Referral specialist. These specialists can tell you what is available in your local community -- i.e., Meals on Wheels, assisted living facilities, home health care places, etc. Some will be affiliated with hospitals, churches, United Way or government and others will be strictly private. The non-profit agencies often charge on a sliding scale basis according to income and number of people in a household. Many times, the costs will vary and will depend on whether and what kind of insurance your mother has. They will also depend upon what kind of services she needs and the level of services ( such as a certified nursing attendant vs. a Registered Nurse) You might not be able to pin down actual dollar amounts until you need the services, as costs may change from year to year.
 
If you can't find an Area Agency on Aging, ask your pastor, the United Way, or the local hospital's social work department to refer you to someone about this. There are also  professionals (lawyers, accountants, etc.) who do estate planning. They can look at your mother's money and tell you if it will be enough for her needs, and make suggestions as to how to maximize her resources. Make sure you check out this person's references very, very well --especially before making any investments with him." ~ Lynn

"Regarding the elder care, start w/AARP. There are lots of links to councils on aging at the federal, state, county, and city levels. If the daughter has access to a work-life balance resource (through work, a labor union, or some of the community clubs (Sorpotimist, Rotary, etc.,) make an appointment and find out what resources are available. There are community classes on how to talk to an aging dependent and it's worth spending a Saturday or a few nights at these classes, for both the resource material AND, more importantly, hearing about the experiences others are having w/their parent or aging dependent." ~ Sean

 
"I am actually a Caregiver. I am currently taking care of a woman who is 86 years old, who has Alzheimer's and is in hospice care. For those of you who are 40-60 years old, I recommend you getting some type of extended care benefits from some type of health insurance. This would cover usually some of the costs associated with home care, assisted living and nursing home care. This care gets rather expensive.
 
The lady I take care of currently spends around $10,000.00 per month. Yes, you read that right --  ten thousand dollars. She has round the clock care in her home. There are 4 of us that do rotations. Hospice (which is no charge, except for us taxpayers) comes in 5 days a week and bathes our client. They also supply the hospital bed, lift, adult diapers, skin cream, gloves, underpads and supportive medications. Since our client has been with hospice she has gotten much better. Everyone is very surprised especially hospice. If you are looking to get someone into an assisted living or nursing home or even a hospice center they will be on a waiting list for some time so plan accordingly.
 
I love what I do and wish I had started long ago. I never really had any parents since I was abandoned at 3 years of age. I have lost several clients and it bothers me some but if everyone knew how rewarding this is and how much you can learn from our elders, they would see that it is a wonderful thing to do.
 
I just wish we could all do what people did years and years ago -- they took care of their own. We have gotten into 'gotta have this' and 'gotta have that', and now most of us are so far in debt that it takes most households holding down more than 2 jobs to support ourselves, much less our elders and children. Let's pray that we all get serious, get out of debt and learn from our mistakes.
 
I'll be praying for all of you who are facing this situation." ~ Brenda

 

Editor's Note: Thanks to these subscribers for taking the time to respond.

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