There are those who are under the impression that Medicare will pay for all their health care needs when they become eligible for the program. Perhaps unfortunately, the truth is that there are things that Medicare does not cover and it is important to be apprised of the limitations of your benefits.
One of the things that Medicare does not cover is long-term care and there are a couple of things that people should be aware of with regard to assisted living. For one, you may know that some people do require long-term care but assume that you will not be one of them.
The fact is that most individuals who reach the age of 65 will need long-term care at some point in time, so if you go through life assuming you’ll never need any type of living assistance you are defying the odds.
In addition to the above, you have to understand the fact that long-term care is extraordinarily expensive. Using the average length of stay coupled with the average cost of a private room in a nursing home you may be looking at an end-of-life expense that exceeds $200,000.
One option that exists as a response to the high cost of long-term care would be to take steps toward qualifying for Medicaid, a government program that does pay for long-term care. Though there is a resource limit of $2000 many of your valuable possessions do not count toward this number including your home.
And, if you are married and your spouse needs long-term care you could keep your half of the shared property up to a certain amount without impacting his or her eligibility.
The key is to plan ahead intelligently while positioning your assets wisely. To explore the possibility of angling toward Medicaid eligibility to address long-term care costs simply make an appointment to speak with a good Long Island elder law attorney.
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