Being
a caregiver is tough! I learned that the hard way recently when my son suffered
a major fracture of his clavicle, severe enough to warrant a 2-hour surgery and
3 days in the hospital on complete bed rest.
Though
I can’t say enough about how wonderful the hospital, nurses and staff were to us
during our entire time there, the nurses are assigned 6-8 patients each, per
shift, and thus cannot be at each patients beck and call whenever the patient
wants a pillow adjustment, help eating, getting in and out of bed, getting to
the bathroom etc.
The nurses are certainly willing to do these things, but the
fact is they are just not able to be there that often for each and every
patient. Thus, the patient often needs a caregiver; even in a well-staffed and
well-run hospital such as the one my son was in.
This
job of caregiver invariably falls upon family members as they adjust their
daily routines to accommodate the needs of the patient. This is no doubt done
in a gesture of love, thanks for all the care the caregiver may have once
received from the patient (as in a parent being cared for by a son or
daughter), compassion or a combination of all three.
This
family-member-as-caregiver situation works well for a while. How long depends
upon the individuals involved; both the patient and his/her needs and the
caregiver and his/her needs. They both have needs to be met, just very
different needs, and herein lies the problem.
It
is difficult for these diverse needs of both individuals to be met through the
actions of one individual (the caregiver) alone, no matter how righteous and
dignified the caregiver’s intentions to
do good may be and how physically capable the caregiver may be.
The
solution. Professional care. It’s that simple. Whether the care be custodial
care, the most common form of care-giving, or skilled care, and whether at home
or in a facility, caring for a loved one is something most families will face
at some point in their lives.
So
first we must know the limits of our personal ability to provide care to a
loved one and what kind of care our abilities allow. Once a personal
caregiver’s plan of action is complete, the next important issue is that of the
cost of the care.
How
will the cost of the patient’s needed care be met? Will the patient’s resources
be enough without impoverishment? Will the caregiver/family member/s be able to
provide funds for the patient’s care?
Lets’
address the possibilities of funding this care one at a time:
1)
the patient can pay for care “out-of-pocket” from personal financial resources at a current rate of up to $100,000 per year.
2)
the patient can spend down their assets to impoverishment in the hopes of then
qualifying for Medicaid (a horrible
option as the quality of care and the provider pool is so poor in the Medicaid
system/network).
3)
the patient could receive funds from family members to cover the cost of care.
4)
or, the patient could transfer the risk of not being able to pay for this care
to an insurance company in exchange for periodic premium payments.
Now,
it’s no secret to anyone not living in a cave that the future of health care in
this country is changing dramatically as you read this. Obamacare will change the Medicaid
and Medicare landscape in ways that
the programs’ creators could never have imagined.
With
these entitlement programs being the largest source of our nations egregiously,
unsustainable, debt burden, cuts in these programs will continue to be made;
there is just no other way.
Thus
self-funding or transferring the risk to an insurance company are the only two
ways to really be absolutely sure you will receive the care you or a family
member need and deserve when the time comes; and if you are honest with
yourself, you know that time will likely come.
If
you then look at the statistical chances of needing such care, crunch some
variables and analyze the costs, you will often see that freeing your family and loved ones (of the financial
risk alone), of a family member needing care that could easily cost $100,000 per year
for an indefinite period of time, just makes good common sense.
This
is done through insurance; specifically, long-term care insurance, and it is
one of the types of family protection I specialize in and have been protecting
clients’ assets with for nearly 20 years.
If
you or your spouse, or both, are over 50, call my office today at 561-337-8000
to find out whether protecting your hard-earned assets with long-term care
insurance makes sense for you too.
Remember,
the need for long-term care can happen at any age, (I will be happy to provide numerous real-life stories to prove that), and the longer you wait to
address your possible need for protection, the more expensive that protection
becomes, if you can even get it at all. So call me personally at
561-337-8000 today to learn more.
