As you are going through life as a capable person, the concept of living assistance can seem irrelevant. Of course you are aware of the fact that some elders do require nursing home care, but you may assume that you will always be able to handle your activities of daily living. This could be especially true if you have taken good care of yourself throughout your life.
It can be a sobering reality to confront, but in fact, most senior citizens will eventually need long-term care of some kind or another, and many will ultimately require nursing home care.
There is a very informative website that you may want to visit if you are serious about preparing for the future called LongTermCare.gov. The site is maintained by the United States Department of Health and Human Services. According to this government maintained website, no less than 70 percent of people who are reaching the age of 65 on any given day will eventually need long-term care.
Clearly, as you get older, it becomes more likely that you will need living assistance. So, if you have lived well, you can probably expect to live a long life. The segment of the population that was at least 85 years old grew faster than any other group between the last two censuses, so you may well live into your eighties and perhaps beyond.
Medicare Limitations
If all of the facts that we have shared to this point have gotten your attention, you may be largely unconcerned if you assume that Medicare will pay for nursing home care if you ever need it. In fact, Medicare does not pay for nursing home care. The program will pay for convalescent care after an injury or illness, but it will not pay for living assistance, which is considered to be custodial care.
Nursing Home Costs
We have established the fact that most people will need living assistance, and Medicare will not pick up the tab for nursing home costs. If you have to write a check if you ever require nursing home care, you are going to be filling in some rather hefty numbers.
Our firm is located in Hartford, Connecticut. According to a Genworth Financial survey, the median annual cost for a private room in a nursing home in the greater Hartford area is just over $160,000. When you consider the fact that many people will need multiple years of nursing home care, you can see that these expenses can be quite significant.
Nursing Home Care Solutions
There are things that you can do to prepare for possible nursing home costs. Feel free to contact us through this page to set up a no obligation consultation if you would like to discuss things with a licensed professional: Hartford CT Elder Law Attorneys.
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