nursing home - 5 ways to pay for it

How will you (or your parents or grandparents) pay for a nursing home? People work hard their whole lives saving money, living frugally, hoping to pass something on to their kids and grandkids. Then reality sets in as age and health issues force that money to be used for healthcare instead.

Maybe you have wondered, “What are the options for my family to pay for nursing and long term care costs?”

There are 5 basic ways to handle it.

1. Stay at home without outside help. As long as one spouse is healthy, this works fine. But too often I see the caregiver spouse start having health issues, possibly brought on by the stress of 24-hour care for their loved one.

2. Move in with family and avoid the expense altogether. Just tell them to get your room ready, you’re on your way! This option works great for some families, not so great for others. And it’s not just the younger generation that has the concerns. Often, my older clients say they don’t want to be a burden to their kids or put stress on them. Plus, there are some health concerns that are just beyond what a family can handle at home on their own.

3. Spend your life savings, either on nursing help at home or in a facility.

4. Let the government pay for it. Too many times, I have heard people say, “I’ll give all my stuff to my kids and let the government pay for my nursing home.” Unfortunately, there are some kinks in this plan.

If you give your money away, you really have to give it AWAY. This means your kids can waste it all, the money can be exposed if your child gets divorced, or can be at risk if they have financial problems such as getting sued, having a downturn in business or getting laid off.

You can’t just give all your money away and then apply for Medicaid to get the government to pay for your nursing care. If you give assets away, it will impact your application if you apply within 5 years after the gift (5 years according to federal law - Illinois is still at 3 year "look back" because they are late in complying with the federal requirement).

Even if you get on Medicaid, you have limited options. The government won’t pay for home care and only pays for the bare minimum of care in a nursing home that may not have been your first choice. I’m sure it’s no surprise that the nicest nursing homes don’t take government aid, they only take private payments.

5. Buy long term care insurance. If you need long term care, whose money would you rather spend? The insurance company’s or yours (which was intended to be your kid’s inheritance)? Plus, certain long term care policies allow you to use the funds to hire help at home, so you can avoid a nursing home altogether. In addition, many people are exploring hybrid long term care benefits, where they purchase an annuity or life insurance policy that can be accessed for nursing costs if necessary.

If you are concerned about long term care issues, we can help. Your first step is to contact our Client Coordinator, Lynn Hanson (217-726-9200 or lynn@edwardsgroupllc.com), who can schedule a phone conference with me. During that phone call, we will determine whether it makes sense for your family to complete an Asset Protection Review that will give you a snapshot of what assets you have that are exposed based on your precise living arrangements, income, marital status, and health concerns. Based on that snapshot, there may be legal strategies that can help.