Many seniors will require long term care of some type as they get older. Glastonbury elder law lawyers can help seniors to find ways to afford the care that they require. While some elderly individuals will end up needing nursing home care, many older people would prefer to try to stay in their homes as long as they possibly can. For many seniors, this means utilizing long-term care services at home. Long term care services provided in the home could be beneficial to seniors who cannot do all of the activities of daily living on their own- like showering or cooking a meal- but who may not need the full-time round the clock care that could come from living in a nursing home. 
While long term care services at home can keep seniors out of nursing home care for longer, these services are not cheap. The costs of long-term care can be thousands of dollars per month, especially in situations where the care is provided by qualified professionals rather than health aides who may have limited training. Seniors who want to try to obtain long term care services in their own homes will need to have a plan in place to try to cover the costs of care.
Nirenstein, Horowitz & Associates can assist seniors in exploring their options for getting the costs of care covered. The options that are available to older people will depend upon many factors. Glastonbury elder law lawyers at our firm will work with you to understand the options available to you and to take advantage of those options so you can get help and stay in your home as long as possible. Give us a call to find out more.
Options for Seniors to Pay for Long-Term Care
Seniors cannot count on Medicare or Medicare advantage plans to pay for either long term care costs in their home or to pay for care services in a nursing home. Medicare provides limited or no coverage for these types of services that seniors need, and any coverage that is available through Medicare is limited in time duration and restricted only to skilled services.
Most people who need long term care, either at home or in a nursing home, will need custodial care, and Medicare pays nothing for custodial care. As a result, seniors have a few alternatives.
- Seniors could pay out-of-pocket. To be able to do this, seniors will need to have saved a considerable amount of money for healthcare services during retirement. Nirenstein, Horowitz & Associates can assist clients during the course of their working life to take advantage of savings accounts that provide tax breaks. This makes it easier to save for retirement expenses, including long-term care, but most families are still not going to be able to afford to pay these costs on their own… at least not without spending an entire life savings.
- Seniors could obtain VA benefits: Aid & Attendance and other benefits could be available through the Veterans’ Administration to help cover costs of long-term care. This is an option only for eligible veterans and the programs may still not provide enough money or help to those who need care at home.
- Seniors could use long-term care insurance: This involves buying a private policy. Premiums could be very high, and there could be coverage exclusions that make it impossible to get long term care costs at home or even to get the policy to pay for nursing home care when it is actually needed.
- Seniors could qualify for Medicaid: Medicaid should cover both long term care and nursing home care under appropriate circumstances. However, seniors will need to work with Glastonbury elder law attorneys if they want to qualify for Medicaid without having to spend their entire life savings on care just to get below maximum resource limits.
Nirenstein, Horowitz & Associates can assist you in understanding which of these options is right for you and in exploring other available options.
Getting Help from Glastonbury Elder Law Lawyers
Glastonbury elder law lawyers at Nirenstein, Horowitz & Associates help clients during all stages of their lives in making plans to ensure they can pay for long term care or nursing home care. To find out more about how our firm can help you to get your care costs covered so you can pay for the help that you need as you get older, join us for a free seminar. If you’re ready for personalized advice on the Medicaid planning process or on other steps you can take to protect yourself if you need long term care, give us a call at 860-548-1000 or contact us online today.
