Alzheimer’s Disease Can Take Your Memory AND Your Financial Security
October 18, 2009
Alzheimer’s disease affects as many as 5.3 million people in the United States; which means it affects as many as 5.3 million families, because Alzheimer’s is a disease that affects everybody it touches—husbands, wives, children and grandchildren—they all bear witness to their loved one’s slow demise.
Sadly, emotional stress is not the only stress that accompanies Alzheimer’s disease; those loved ones serving as caretakers may carry a huge amount of financial stress as well. According to this article by Denise Bonilla the cost of caring for an Alzheimer’s patient can run anywhere from $64 a day to $77,380 a year, and because Alzheimer’s disease can be such a long-lasting disease (a person can suffer from Alzheimer’s for up to 20 years) the costs of care can end up being astronomical. It’s obvious that people can’t do it alone.
Some of the options to help Alzheimer’s patients pay for medical expenses are long-term care insurance or Medicaid [Medi-Cal in California] (Medicare doesn’t cover the cost of long-term care). Long-term care insurance can be very helpful… if you’ve thought ahead and purchased the policy before you or your spouse began suffering from symptoms of Alzheimer’s. As for the government programs, those also can be helpful… if you fall in the right category and know how to navigate the complex system.
Unfortunately, learning how to navigate the system is not something you can do in an hour or two. Because your experience will depend on a number of unique factors, we cannot give you an easy set of instructions to follow. The best advice we can give is to say that right now, the best way to navigate the Medicaid/Medi-Cal system is to find someone who knows the system to assist you. It is in this endeavor that Elder Law attorneys help their clients on a regular basis. If you wish to ensure that you and your loved ones will be cared for no matter what the future may bring, seek out the advice and counsel of an experienced Elder Law attorney. In doing so, you may just find that your financial security can be secured and a payment source for your loved one’s care expenses found. Free of financial worry, you may then relax and devote more of your energies to supporting your family and loved one. If you wish more information, we invite you to download your own copy of our “Consumer’s Guide To Medi-Cal Planning”.
Caregiver Agreements Reduce the Burden of Caring for Elderly Family Members
January 21, 2009
Anyone serving as a caregiver for an aging relative knows that it’s hard work no matter how much you love the person to whom you are providing care and service, and in many cases it can be a severe financial hardship as well. Studies have shown that the child who serves as the primary caregiver for aging parents can lose over $500,000 over a lifetime in reduced salary and retirement benefits!
What many caregivers (and recipients) do not know is that you can care for the one you love AND avoid sacrificing your financial well-being by executing a caregiver agreement. Caregiver agreements are nothing new, but according to this article in the Wall Street Journal “we expect the deteriorating economy to lead to a spike in caregiver agreement work.” This is good news, because caregiver agreements come with a number of benefits, not the least of which is that money given to a son or daughter under a caregiver agreement is not considered by the government to be “a gift” when an elderly person is trying to qualify for Medi-Cal, Medicaid, or other public benefits. However, the agreement must be in writing. It may also reduce resentment among siblings where, for example, one is rendering “all of the care” for mom.
Executing a caregiver agreement can be a HUGE benefit to your family, but you must make sure it’s done correctly. These agreements are legal contracts, and should include details such as the cost of services, the duties the caregiver will be performing. There should also be in place a medical and/or financial power of attorney, if making decisions will be part of the caregiving duties.
And all contracts must, must, must be executed in advance of receiving compensation. “You can’t do the contract after the fact and say this $100,000 was for looking after mom.”
If you would like more information about caregiver agreements, please contact our office. Whether you are the care provider or recipient, we can help make the caregiving process a little bit easier on you and your family.
Should You Be Responsible For Your Parents’ Care?
December 5, 2008
Jane Gross over at the New Old Age Blog recently wrote a post about the prospect of enforced filial responsibility. Filial responsibility laws are patterned after Elizabethan Poor Laws and state that adult children are responsible for the basic needs of their parents, just as you would be for the basic needs of your spouse or your children. “Basic needs” includes food, clothing, shelter and medical care.
According to Ms. Gross, the filial responsibility laws are still on the books in 30 states, including California, Massachusetts, Indiana and Pennsylvania! (Gross includes a link in her post to a document listing all 30 states with filial responsibility laws.) These laws haven’t been enforced in a long time, but with the current economic crisis, and the rumor of dwindling Medi-CAL and Social Security resources as baby boomers age, is it such a far stretch to imagine that those laws may be enforced again someday? Perhaps even someday soon?
How hard would that be on the sandwich generation? It really wasn’t that long ago that elderly parents lived with their children. There was a time when it was not unusual to have three generations in one house; it was the norm, in fact.
Were these laws to once again be enforced, the real issue would not be food or shelter; rather, it would be medical care, daily home care, and length of life. The fact of the matter is that we are living longer today than we ever have. In some cases those added years are high-quality, but often those years are spent in a slow decline into Alzheimer’s or dementia, both of which eventually require round-the-clock care. With modern families generally needing two incomes just to stay afloat, where would that care come from?
This isn’t an issue that we necessarily need to worry about right now, but it is one that is important to consider. Most of us would choose to take care of our parents rather than see them out on the street, regardless of whether or not we were required to by law, but the cost of doing so rises every year—and rises with every year we add to the average life-span. What happens when it’s not just the impoverished elderly we need to worry about, but newly impoverished middle-agers as well?
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