How to Pay for Nursing Home Care
Nursing home care may be a must for a spouse or someone in your family. But that doesn’t mean it will be easy to pay for. Nursing home care can be expensive, and you will need a financial plan before you can get care, so you need to figure out how to pay for nursing home care in advance. The following tips may help.
Insurance Can Pay for Nursing Home Care
Probably the best method of paying for nursing home care is to purchase an insurance policy specifically for that purpose. However, this is something that needs to be done long before it becomes necessary to place a loved one in a nursing home. The person going into the home may have purchased a long-term care policy previously, so check their personal records to see if there is a policy in place. Like any other form of insurance, financial protection for long-term medical problems can be purchased, but it probably won’t be cheap. Usually a policy of this type will pay a fixed amount of money per day for extended care. Anything over and above that amount will have to come from another source.
Medicare May Be an Option
There is a possibility that government funded help can come through Medicare, but only if specific conditions have been met. Typically, Medicare is a short-term solution because it is designed to pay for things like skilled nursing care where the patient has a probability of being rehabilitated. In order to receive Medicare to help pay for a stay at a nursing home the patient’s doctor must issue an order stating the patient needs a certain level of skilled nursing assistance, and the nursing home must also be certified to receive Medicare payments.
Medicaid Sometimes Pays for Nursing
Another government funded program to consider is Medicaid. Generally, Medicaid will pay for skilled nursing under home care; however you must be considered low income in order to be qualified to receive it. If your family member’s condition deteriorates to the point where they have to enter a nursing home, Medicaid can only be applied for after any insurance policy expires and all personal assets have been used up. At that point, you will be considered low income and may be eligible to receive Medicaid.
Social Security Can Pay for a Nursing Home
For people who have used up all their own personal assets, as well as exhausted any money from a long-term care insurance policy, your Social Security check can be used to help pay for nursing home care. Once your personal assets are gone, and funds from an insurance policy, you will more than likely qualify for Medicaid. When this happens you’re usually required to pay all but $52 a month, which is considered a personal expenses allowance, to the nursing home. The money can be directly deposited into the nursing home’s account, or you or your loved one can receive the check and reimburse the nursing home.
The Veteran’s Administration Cares for Some Elderly Veterans
If your family member is a veteran of the United Statesmilitary, they may be able to receive care at a VA facility. Keep in mind that veterans with medical problems that are associated with active duty service will receive preferential consideration. Only after all eligible veterans have received care will you or your loved be allowed to receive long-term care at a facility run by the Veteran’s Administration.
How to Pay for Nursing Home Care Yourself
Many people prefer to pay for nursing home care themselves. There are a number of ways to go about it. One way is to put aside money in a savings account specified for that purpose. If you go this route, you should start as early in your working life as possible by opening a savings account designated for emergency use only. Over the years you should continue to add to this account on a regular basis. Accounts designed to provide money for your retirement are the most common method of saving. Buying CD’s or investing in a 401k will allow you to accrue the necessary funds should you require a stay in a nursing home later in life. Another method is to borrow against a life insurance policy to pay for nursing home care, or you can liquidate some of your assets.
You can learn more about how to pay for nursing home care at NursingHomes.org.
More From The Credit Courier
- How to Get an Instant Cash Advance
- How to Get Good Home Insurance for Less
- Personal Finance Tips for Seniors
The Credit Courier Recommends
- 4 Different Stages of Foreclosure (Stop Foreclosure Pronto)
- What Happens to Your Credit When You Foreclose? (Stop Foreclosure Pronto)
- Stop Foreclosure by Selling Your House (Stop Foreclosure Pronto)
- How to Use Facebook for Business (Facebook Pulse)
- How to Prepare For Bad Credit Loans (SmartMoneySpeaks)
Tags: health insurance, home health care, long term care insurance, nursing home care, nursing home insurance, paying for nursing home care