Nursing home planning is something that everyone needs to consider doing. You should not assume that just because you are younger or just because you don’t need nursing home care yet that there will never come a time when residential care is needed. It is very common for seniors to have to go into nursing homes, and having a plan in advance is essential to pay for the home and to find the best living environment. 
While nursing home planning is important, many people do not know what should be involved in the process or where to begin with making their advanced plans for the future. To ensure that you make the right choices and don’t make any mistakes that could cost you, it is a good idea to get legal help.
A Suffolk County nursing home planning lawyer at Mark S. Eghrari and Associates PLLC can provide the advice and assistance you need with the creation of a comprehensive nursing home plan. Give us a call today to find out more about how we can help.
Why is Nursing Home Planning Important?
According to the Wall Street Journal, there is a substantial chance that seniors will end up in a nursing home. In fact, 70 percent of people who are 65 and up will need nursing home care at some point over the course of their lives. For someone 65 and up, there is a 40 percent chance of ending up living in a nursing care facility and a 20 percent chance of living in the facility for five or more years.
Since the chances that you will end up in a nursing home are not insubstantial, you need to make sure you have an advanced plan. If you wait, and something happens to you, you might not be able to pay for the costs of care. This is an especially big issue since most insurance, including Medicare, doesn’t cover routine nursing home care like most people need. Medicare Part A (and a lot of private insurers) only pay for brief stays in nursing homes required when a patient needs skilled medical services. This isn’t why people usually go into nursing homes.
Paying for nursing care is many people’s primary concern, but you also don’t want to overlook the importance of doing research in advance to find the right living environment. If you’ve waited until a medical emergency happens before you start to look into facilities, you may not have the time to do a lot of investigation and you or your family member who needs nursing home care could end up in a home you aren’t sure will provide the services you need.
What are Some Common Mistakes in Nursing Home Planning?
It is undeniably clear that nursing home planning is important, but unfortunately some people neglect to make a plan and others make errors during the planning process. When it comes to where you’ll live if you need nursing home care, you can’t take chances on making mistakes. You should get professional legal help and you should also be mindful of some of the common errors people make including:
- Waiting too long: A lot of people don’t think about nursing home care until they need it. This is a big mistake, both because you won’t have time to research to find the right home and because you won’t have the time to protect assets using Medicaid planning. To maximize the benefits of Medicaid planning and keep as many assets safe as possible, you need to make your plans at least five years in advance.
- Not checking nursing home reputations: Find out about what the nursing home’s rating is with state and federal agencies. Check and see if they have a history of citations or a generally good reputation.
- Not reading nursing home admission paperwork. Many nursing homes have arbitration clauses in them now. These clause can abridge your rights because you can end up waiving the right to sue in the event of abuse or neglect.
To avoid these and other common mistakes, you need to talk with a Suffolk County nursing home planning lawyer.
Getting Help from a Suffolk County Nursing Home Planning Lawyer
You don’t want to jeopardize your future health and safety, or your financial security, by not making plans in advance in case nursing home care becomes necessary. Don’t wait until it is too late and don’t take a chance on not putting a plan in place. Call Mark S. Eghrari and Associates PLLC today to get the nursing home planning process started.
To find out more about why nursing home planning is important and how your planning process should fit into your comprehensive estate plan, you may wish to download our estate planning checklist. You can also give us a call at (631) 265-0599 or contact us online to get personalized one-on-one advice about plan creation. Contact us now to learn more.
Mark S. Eghrari, Estate Planning Attorney
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