There are many people reaching retirement age at the present time because of the fact that the baby boomer generation is so populous. Experts tell us that the numbers of older people are going to exceed the numbers of younger people for the first time in history.
Because of this a lot of questions are being asked about Medicare and Medicaid. In this post we will take a look at Medicaid and Medicare in Long Island, New York and explain the differences.
Medicaid and Medicare in Long Island, New York
Medicare
Medicare is a federal program that provides health care coverage to seniors who have paid into the program sufficiently while they were working. If you paid the minimum amount into the program you qualify.
A person who made millions of dollars would qualify for the same coverage as someone who held a modest job throughout his or her life.
The age of eligibility for Medicare at the time of this writing in 2013 is 65. The eligibility age is something to keep your eye on because there has been talk of raising it.
We have all heard probably more than we want to hear about the federal debt. Some legislators support raising the eligibility age. The higher the eligibility age is the more money the program would save.
Be that as it may, at the present time you can expect to be eligible for Medicare when you celebrate your 65th birthday.
It should be noted that your age of Social Security eligibility is not going to be the same as your age of Medicare eligibility under currently existing laws. The exact age of full eligibility depends on the year during which you were born. If you are not currently receiving Social Security, you will become eligible when you are 66, 67, or somewhere in between these two ages.
Medicare comes with certain out-of-pocket expenses such as premiums and deductibles. And, you should be aware of the fact that Medicare won’t pay for a long-term stay in a nursing home or assisted living community.
Medicaid
Medicaid is a program that is jointly run by the federal government and each individual state. As such each state has some degree of flexibility with regard to the exact parameters.
Medicaid is not inherently designed to help senior citizens like Medicare. Medicaid provides a health care safety net for people who have virtually no financial resources.
Most of the long-term care that seniors are receiving in the United States is paid for by Medicaid even though a lot of these people were never financially challenged when they were younger. Long-term care is extremely expensive, and some people just can’t absorb the costs even if they have some retirement savings.
Elder law attorneys help people plan ahead with Medicaid eligibility in mind. If you take the right steps you can gain eligibility without losing everything. You can contact our firm to set up a Medicaid planning consultation if you want to explore the possibilities in detail.
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