If you or a loved one ever need long-term nursing care, do you know what options are available in your community? Do you know how much the care might cost, or how you could plan for it? For that matter, do you even know what is meant by “long-term care”? The Federal Administration on Aging has answers to those questions, and more, on a new and powerful website at www.longtermcare.gov.

When will Medicare pay for long-term care? If you are eligible for Medicare coverage, have recently had a hospital stay of at least three days and require skilled nursing services and/or physical therapy or other types of therapy, Medicare may cover a portion of your long-term care costs. But “Medicare does not pay for most long-term care,” observes the site (with just a hint of understatement).

Medicaid, on the other hand, does pay for long-term care services—though “most money that Medicaid spends on long-term care goes to institutional care.” In other words, Medicaid’s emphasis is on nursing home services, though there are significant home– and community-based services available through Medicaid. Of course, eligibility for Medicaid services requires that you meet financial standards; most of the rules are similar in most states, and the longtermcare.gov site provides a readable and understandable synopsis of the eligibility requirements.

Perhaps you expect to pay for your long-term care privately, rather than looking to any government program for assistance. You will still find excellent resources on the website. Wondering how much a private room in a nursing home might cost? According to the figures gathered by the Administration on Aging, such a room will cost about $175/day in the Tucson area, and about $25/day more in Phoenix. Compare that to the nearly $300/day a home in New York state would cost, or the $386/day you should expect to pay in New York City.

Too expensive? Try moving to Arkansas, where a private room in a nursing home will only cost about $127/day. Or, if you would rather stay in Tucson, look into an assisted living facility—if your care needs can be met at that level the cost will be more like $85/day.

How about long-term care insurance? Is it right for you, and what terms should you look for in a policy? Here again, the website provides good information. The average insurance policy sold in 2005, according to the site, provided 5.5 years of coverage at up to $143/day. For an applicant aged 55 to 64, the average premium cost was just under $1,900/year. For those over age 75, the average cost for a comparable policy was just over $2,600/year.

Would you like to subscribe to Elder Law Issues? Simply provide your e-mail address and name below, and click "Subscribe". At the same time, you may choose to also subscribe to The Voice, the newsletter of the Special Needs Alliance.

Privacy note: We do not ever use your e-mail address or name for any purpose other than to send out our subscription-based newsletter. You can rest assured that we will not sell, trade or share this information with any other person or entity. We have no ancillary or associated companies or entities to which we could provide your e-mail address, either.

© 1993-2008 Fleming & Curti, P.L.C.
520-622-0400 /  FAX: 520-203-0240