For many years, when the term “long-term care” was mentioned,  it referred to placing your loved one in a nursing home.  Not anymore. 

“Long-term care” refers to  a lifestyle of sorts for those needing more assistance. It may  mean living indefinitely in a nursing home or an assisted-living facility, or it may mean “aging in place” in your own home or the home of a loved one.

Long-term care is needed when someone with an extended physical illness, a disability, or a cognitive impairment (such as Alzheimer’s disease) requires assistance in activities of daily living (toileting, bathing, transferring, feeding and ambulation).  It helps individuals to live as they are now; it may not help to improve or correct health issues.

Nursing homes generally have two levels of care: skilled nursing, also referred to as rehab or sub-acute care, and intermediate care, which is considered long-term care.

-Skilled care provides physical therapy, occupational therapy, speech and skilled nursing care.  Skilled care is usually ordered by one’s physician after a three-day stay in the hospital.  Skilled care services, whether provided in the nursing home, rehab hospital or on an outpatient basis, are covered under Medicare.

-Intermediate care in a nursing home is when individuals must reside there indefinitely due to limitations in their physical or cognitive functions that need nursing supervision.  Along with the health care component, nursing homes provide 24-hour supervision, medication management, meal preparation and assistance with activities of daily living.  These services are covered only on a private-pay basis (including long-term care insurance) or through long-term care Medicaid.

Assisted-living facilities can look very different in size and populations, but they are considered more of a residential environment than nursing homes.  They are nonmedical residential settings that provide or coordinate personal and health care services, 24-hour supervision, medication management, meal preparation, socialization and assistance with activities of daily living for those who are aged, infirm or disabled.

It is important to note that nursing facilities are regulated by federal law, while assisted-living facilities are under state mandate. Both are monitored by the long-term care ombudsman program, which can be found through your local area agency on aging.

The ombudsman can investigate complaints in an attempt to resolve issues and to restore quality of life to residents in facilities. The ombudsman also has the responsibility to educate the community on concerns affecting local long-term care facilities by sharing factual information regarding those facilities.

“Aging in place” is the term for allowing someone to remain in one living environment no matter what his or her needs may be as time goes on.

Oftentimes homes, especially those in 55-and-over communities, are built with this concept in mind. Wider doors with lever door handles rather than twist knobs; bathrooms with grab bars and built-in seats in the shower area; and smooth surface flooring, such as low pile carpet, hardwood, tile or linoleum all make a home more accessible.  Lower countertops, lever handles on faucets, and  cabinets and drawers with easy-pull hardware allow for functionality in the kitchen.  Some homes are equipped with ramps to allow easy access.

In addition to the physical modification of the home,  services are needed to complete the “aging in place” model. If the caregiver is still working or needs time to run errands and/or care for themselves, adult day care may be an option. This is where you can drop your loved ones off in the morning and pick them up  in the evening.

The staff provides supervision, medication management, activities and meals.  Some centers will also provide transportation and an aide to accompany your loved ones to medical appointments.

Home health care or home care is usually needed to offer support to the caregiver in the home environment.  Determining which agency depends on the level of health care service needed.

The home health agency provides skilled or medically trained personnel such as nurses; physical, occupational and speech therapists; respiratory caregivers; nutritionists; and certified nursing assistants to assist in maintaining or improving clients’ health situations while keeping them in the home.

Home care agencies, often referred to as “nonmedical care,” offer companion aide and personal care services (hygiene), which provide for a greater quality of life by assisting with transferring, bathing, dressing, toileting, walking, keeping appointments, meal preparation, light housekeeping, socialization, transportation and running errands.

Hospice is another service that is often used to assist in meeting your loved ones’ needs either at end of life  or with advanced dementia.  Hospice emphasizes palliative rather than curative treatment. It focuses on quality of life rather than longevity.  People can be on hospice from weeks to years depending on their  situations and needs.

If you are looking into options for covering the cost of long term care, please contact Capstone LTC Insurance Services. We have helped many families with Long Term Care Insurance in Del Mar CA and the surrounding communities. Call 858-350-3161 for more information.

Prepare for the Rising Cost of Long-Term Care

The price tag of a nursing-home room will continue to grow at a fast pace, but there are ways to offset the cost.

How much is long-term care expected to cost in 20 to 30 years? I’m in my fifties now and am wondering what the price might be to receive care in a nursing home or my home in the future.

The cost of long-term care is already high and is expected to grow at a brisk pace for the next 20 to 30 years. The median cost of a private room in a nursing home now is $206 per day across the country, which adds up to more than $75,000 per year, according to Genworth Financial’s recent Cost of Care study. And the median cost of care from a licensed home health aide is $19 per hour, which equals $152 per day for eight hours of care — or more than $55,000 a year.

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For more information about long term care insurance in La Jolla CA, contact Capstone LTC Insurance Services. We specialize in helping families with the security they need for the future. Call 858-350-3161.

A New Long-Term Care Insurance Program

The measure signed into law by President Obama on Tuesday contains a little-remarked insurance program designed to help Americans pay for long-term care.

I’ve read so little about the Class Act in recent weeks that when President Obama signed the health care bill yesterday, surrounded by a gaggle of happy Democrats, I had to call the National Council on Aging to reassure myself that yes, this often overlooked but potentially transformational program remained part of the package.

“It’s the law of the land as of this moment,” asid the council’s president, James P. Firman, still sounding a bit dazed by the whole drama. “And there’s nothing in the reconciliation bill about it, no language in there at all. It’s the law, and it’s not going away.”

Wow.

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For more information about long term-care insurance in San Diego CA, contact Capstone LTC Insurance Services. We specialize in helping families with the security they need for the future. Call 858-350-3161.

As I’ll explain, chances are you’re going to need some form of custodial care during your lifetime. For many people, LTC insurance can be a good way to mitigate the high costs that go along with it. What factors should you consider?

WHAT IS LONG-TERM CARE?

Long-term care refers to help with what insurers call the “activities of daily living” – bathing, dressing, eating, and moving – associated with injuries, strokes and mental deterioration like Alzheimer’s disease. Actually, the phrase “long-term care” may be a bit of a misnomer. Someone with a broken hip, for example, may need this type of assistance for just a few months. Obviously, for short and simple problems, a family member can often provide the required care (though that often results in an onerous burden). More serious and lengthy issues require someone to come in every day, or care in a nursing home or an assisted-living facility.

WILL YOU NEED LONG-TERM CARE?

Statistically, the answer is yes. You will probably need this type of assistance. Despite the many health problems in America, collectively, we’re living longer, and that clearly increases the probability. In fact, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, at least 60 percent of people over age 65 will require some long-term care services at some point in their lives.

However, the statistical probability that you’ll need this type of care doesn’t mean you need LTC insurance. If you’re quite wealthy, you can effectively self-insure. Others may have children who can help either physically or financially. And finally, if you’re needy, you may qualify for Medicaid assistance.

The nightmare scenario occurs when one spouse’s medical needs wipe out the family’s financial assets, reducing the healthy spouse to poverty and, potentially, the arduous task of being the caregiver. Note that women tend to be healthier than their husbands, which means two things. First, they often become the caregiver; second, if long-term care seriously depletes the family’s financial resources, they’re the ones in jeopardy.

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If you are looking into options for covering the cost of long term care, contact Capstone LtC Insurance Services. We have helped many families with Long Term Care Insurance in Oceanside CA and the surrounding communities. Call 858-350-3161 for more information.

A survey recently released by John Hancock provides insights on a key area that financial advisors should try to address more directly: the failure of most people to prepare for the financial risk associated with the need for long-term care.

The survey results offer important insights into the consumer mind-set, which can help advisors provide more effective guidance. Such guidance is necessary because it is clear that the financial strategies being used by many people entering retirement make it likely that many of them will end their lives in circumstances that they never anticipated or intended.

The conundrum that advisors face is that many clients have an “approach avoidance” reaction to this issue. While clients know that making sure they will be able to afford good care is important, they cannot seem to bring themselves to the point of addressing the issue. For that reason, financial advisors should consider taking a more assertive approach. Although planning ahead for long-term care needs is important, it is not an easy issue to discuss, and that is why the Hancock survey is helpful.

The possibility of long-term care costs financially wiping out unprepared clients is not minimal. The most careful estimates of the likelihood of a 65-year-old ever needing long-term care vary between 35% and 55% depending upon definitions. The average cost for a semi-private room in a nursing home is about $75,000 a year: If costs increase at 4% a year (most expect nursing home costs to rise faster than general inflation), the average cost will be $164,300 a year in 20 years, when a person turning age 65 today will enter the high-incidence years for needing long-term care. With this level of risk and cost, the necessity of planning is clear.

The John Hancock survey, which was conducted online with 1,000 people ages 21 to 75, provides six key lessons for your practice.

The most critical lesson is that the majority of people are receptive to their financial advisors initiating discussions about long-term care. They know there is a significant likelihood that they will need long-term care at some point in their lives. Indeed, only 6% believe this eventuality is not at all likely. Six in seven agree with the idea that “it is irresponsible not to plan for your own long-term care needs.” Also, it is important to almost all respondents that their assets are protected if they do need long-term care. Having long-term care insurance protection is clearly the most efficient approach for all that do not have the high amount of assets that allow them to self-insure.

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If you are looking into options for covering the cost of long term care, please contact Capstone LTC Insurance Services. We have helped many families with Long Term Care Insurance in Del Mar CA and the surrounding communities. Call 858-350-3161 for more information.

At ages 59 and 61, your parents are independent and self-sufficient. Still, they realize that an accident, sudden illness or simple aging could trigger the need for long-term care. They nursed your grandmother through her 10-year bout with Alzheimer’s and are well aware that a loved one’s illness can cause heartbreak and financial strain for the entire family. Can a long-term care insurance policy for your parents help protect everyone concerned?

As the senior population grows and health care costs escalate, adult children are becoming increasingly concerned about caring for their aging parents. Many families are dealing with the challenges of mental or physical disability or prolonged illness. For thousands of others, these realities may be just around the corner.

The challenge for these families is to provide the best possible long-term care for a parent without causing severe financial hardship for the rest of the family. In most cases, families must plan ahead without knowing the answers to key questions: Will a parent need round-the-clock nursing home care or assistance with daily activities such as bathing and dressing? Will home health care be enough? Will Medicare pay for it? Does the parent qualify for Medicaid? What cost will the family incur?

One thing is certain — long-term care is very expensive. Unlike traditional medical care, which seeks to rehabilitate or correct certain medical ills, long-term care aims to help people with chronic conditions compensate for limitations on their ability to function independently. Long-term care involves a wide variety of services and, generally, older people often need more care than they anticipate.

Government assistance programs may offer little help. Medicare — the federal health insurance program for people over the age of 65 — provides very limited long-term care benefits and can require substantial co-payments. Medicaid — the public health care program for low-income Americans — has strict financial eligibility criteria and generally requires beneficiaries to deplete their savings, or “spend down,” before it will pay for services. Other public services may be available but typically are offered on a sliding-fee scale, based on ability to pay. There also may be waiting lists.

While long-term care insurance is not for everyone, it is an attractive form of security for many people. Depending on the policy, long-term care insurance can cover nursing home stays, home health care and community-based services.

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If you are looking into options for covering the cost of long term care, please contact Capstone LTC Insurance Services. We have helped many families with Long Term Care Insurance in La Jolla and the surrounding communities. Call 858-350-3161 for more information.

Months after Terri Corcoran married in 2000, her new husband began to show signs of fatigue and memory loss.

By 2004, Corcoran’s husband, a former laser scientist in his early 70s, had been diagnosed with a rare genetic brain disorder. This once-independent person could not speak and needed help eating and using the bathroom.

With his children unable to offer day-to-day help, Corcoran, 60, became her husband’s lifeline.

Last year, she spent $78,000 of their savings on his care. She also retired from her job.

“I have to care for him full-time,” she said from their Virginia home. “Now I feel like I’m the CEO of a corporation built to do nothing but that.”

While the circumstances of Corcoran’s marriage may not be common, her role as an elder caregiver is.

An AARP study published last week showed that, in 2009, one in four U.S. adults helped to care for an elderly family member or friend. That volunteer work, according to the study, was worth an estimated $450 billion.

“Being a caregiver is becoming a fact of life,” said Susan Reinhard, senior vice president for public policy at AARP. “It’s the new normal.”

But that new normal shouldn’t take people by surprise.

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If you are looking into options for covering the cost of long term care, contact Capstone LtC Insurance Services. We have helped many families with Long Term Care Insurance in Oceanside CA and the surrounding communities. Call 858-350-3161 for more information.

“I was flying by the seat of my pants,” says Baldocchi, an employment specialist in San Francisco. Both of her parents are 83, and she knew her father couldn’t handle her mother’s care.

The hospital recommended putting her mother in a nursing home. Baldocchi wasn’t willing to do that. But moving her back into her parents’ home created other problems.

Baldocchi, 48, is married and lives about a mile away from her parents. She has a full-time job and has back problems that make it difficult for her to lift her mother. “I couldn’t do it all,” she says. “But I didn’t even know how to find help.”

With help from the Family Caregiver Alliance, she eventually hired a live-in caregiver. “But even if you plan intellectually and legally, you’re never ready for the emotional impact,” Baldocchi says. In the first two months after her mother’s stroke, she lost about 30 pounds as stress mounted.

More than 42 million Americans provide family caregiving for an adult who needs help with daily activities, according to a 2009 survey by the AARP. An additional 61.6 million provided at least some care during the year.

And many are unprepared.

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If you are looking into options for covering the cost of long term care, please contact Capstone LTC Insurance Services. We have helped many families with Long Term Care Insurance in Carlsbad CA , and the surrounding communities. Call 858-350-3161 for more information.

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Will You need Long Term Care?

It’s hard to believe, but the estimated risk for needing Long Term Care continues to climb with each passing year. Now, the Federal government estimates that each individual has a 70% chance of needing Long Term Care in their lifetime. Recent studies reveal that if you are 60 years old you have more than a 60% chance of needing long term care. If you are over 65 years old, your chances of needing care goes up to 70%.

Who Is More At Risk for Needing Long Term Care?

Your age, marital status, gender, lifestyle and, to some extent, your family health history all play a part in the possibility of needing long term care.

According to insurance actuarials, you are more at risk if you:

* are older
* are a woman
* are single
* have a poor diet
* don’t exercise regularly
* smoke
* have a family history of Alzheimer’s, stroke, arthritis, or other degenerative diseases.
* Also, physical activities that can cause severe accidents should be included as a definite risk.

The Long Term Care Cycle

91% of Americans surveyed said they would prefer receiving Long Term Care at home. Indeed, of those needing care only 5% are in Skilled Nursing Facilites.

12% are in Assisted Living Facilities and more than 80% are receiving Home Care.

Therefore, it isn’t a surprise that most Long Term Care starts at home with the help of family or friends until the caregiving burden becomes a too much of a hardship. The next step might be to hire a paid caregiver to help with care duties in the home. Yet many people can’t afford such a luxury, even if they hire unskilled, unlicensed, unsupervised “grey market” caregivers. As care needs increase the next care setting of preference is Assisted Living Facilities, as they are more like hotels than the hospital-type setting of a Skilled Nursing Facility. Most people do everything in their power to stay out of nursing homes, which is one reason why the average nursing home stay is only 2.5 years.

While most Americans suspect that they might need long term care “sometime” in the future, many underestimate care costs and falsely assume that Medicare or their health insurance will pay for extended care. They will not. Medicare will only pay for a short time and only under specific, limited circumstances. The only governement agencies that pay for Long Term Care are Medicaid and the Veteran’s Administration. Both are notorious for their lack of care quality and poor quality of life for their residents.

Boomers’ Mindset

Boomers have been raised to expect a decent quality of life and the freedom to make their own choices. They cherish independence, pleasure and, as they have matured, the joys of family and friends.

As a generation, Boomers were not raised to expect or shoulder sacrifice, although they can and do rise to the occasion. For most, the mere thought of a loved one enduring the extraordinary burden and sacrifice of day-to-day caregiving is enough to motivate Boomers to protect themselves and their families.

The value of Long Term Care insurance is that it:

1) supports independence by providing the ability to pay for Home Care and Assisted Living costs. It give people choices.
2) protects loved ones from the burdens of caregiving.

Long Term Care insurance should be called “nursing home and family caregiving prevention insurance”, and for these benefits alone it is worth its price.

Either having LTC insurance or paying for care costs out-of-pocket allows you to choose where to receive care, even when caregiving needs increase. However, Long Term Care insurance is less expensive in the long-run.

When Should I Buy Long Term Care Insurance?

The sooner the better! LTC insurance premiums go up in price as you get older, although once you buy a policy your premiums do not rise due to aging or health. For years, financial planners were telling their clients to wait until age 65, but this is no longer considered sound advice. The Federal and State Partnership Programs encourage people to buy as early as age 40, mostly to increase the financial security of the programs, but also to ensure that people do not become a burden on Welfare/Medicaid if they get sick or injured at an early age and need long term care.

If you can afford the premium for years to come, buy now to protect yourself and your family.

For more information about long term care insurance in Oceanside CA, contact Capstone LTC Insurance Services. We specialize in helping families with the security they need for the future. Call 858-350-3161

* The average Ancient Greek lived until age 18. The median life span of a Puritan was 33. The average American life expectancy is now about 75 years for men, 84 for women. Over half of Americans will spend part of these these extended years in long term care situations.
* By 2030, one in five Americans will be a senior citizen. If you are a Baby Boomer, this includes you. Americans are living longer and healthier, thanks to better diet, better medical care and safer living & working environments. Yet no one is immune to the effects of aging and longevity – effects that often result in reduced physical or mental ability.
* In 1994, 7.3 million Americans needed long term care (LTC) services at an average cost of nearly $43,800 per year. By 2000, this number rose to 9 million Americans at nearly $55,750 per year. It’s currently near $75,000 per year. By 2030 those needing LTC will skyrocket to 23+ million Americans, with projected, individual long term care costs reaching $300,000 annually per individual!

Will you have that kind of money to spare?

With a history of millions of Americans in care situations living with longevity, elder frailty, stroke, Multiple Sclerosis, Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, Spinal Cord Injury, Cerebral Palsy, accidents and other conditions that affect 50+% of folks over age 65 , we can testify to the need for mature thinking and adult decisions when it comes to long term care planning.

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If you are looking into options for covering the cost of long term care, please contact Capstone LTC Insurance Services. We have helped many families with Long Term Care Insurance in San Diego and the surrounding communities. Call 858-350-3161 for more information.