Page 11 - Healthcare News 2021 Senior Planning Guide

Q: Can I receive care at home rather than moving to a senior-living community?
A: Absolutely. There are any number of quality home-care companies that can provide a wide range of custodial and healthcare services in the comfort
of your own home. Home care is often referred to
as non-skilled care (grooming, dressing, bathing, cleaning, and other everyday tasks), and home healthcare as skilled care (skilled nursing and therapy).
Seniors who are largely independent but can benefit from limited home care or home-healthcare services may choose to continue living in their homes as long as these services help them do so safely. Unless you hire a full-time, live-in aide, skilled and non-skilled care is typically provided for only a few hours per day a few days per week, meaning family members are often called on to supplement the home-care schedule on their own. Seniors who are at risk for (or have experienced) frequent falls, or who require consistent overnight supervision or assistance, may find that moving to an assisted-living community provides them with a more secure living environment.
The choice between home care and senior living is highly personal and almost always comes down to a question of safety, location, the desire and need for socialization, and finances.
Q: What is a continuing-care retirement community, and what are the benefits compared to other senior-living communities?
A: Continuing-care retirement communities (CCRCs) are senior-living communities that offer a complete continuum of care (IL, AL, MC, and SNF), usually on a single campus. The primary benefit of a CCRC is that you can stay in the same community and never have to move, even as your care requirements change as you age.
CCRCs (also referred to as life-plan communities)
do typically require a substantial upfront community fee that can range from $10,000 to $300,000 or more, depending on the community, the structure of the life-care plan, and the size and type of apartment. Many CCRCs offer declining refundable options that can return 70% to 90% of the upfront community fee to the resident when he or she moves, or to her estate when the resident passes away.
CCRCs do still charge a monthly fee, but they are often a lower amount and increase less from one level of care to the next than traditional senior- living communities. CCRCs also offer a potential tax-deduction benefit that many non-CCRCs do not
provide.
Q: Will my health insurance cover the cost of assisted living or memory care? What if I am eligible for Medicaid?
A: Medicare and private insurance plans do not cover the cost of assisted living or memory care. Medicare will cover short-term and intermittent
home care or rehabilitation stays in a SNF following hospitalization, but will not pay for either long term. Seniors generally must pay for assisted living, memory care, and home care privately unless they have long- term-care insurance with benefits specifically designed to cover these services. Qualifying veterans and their spouses may be eligible for the Aid & Attendance benefit from the VA to help pay for the cost of assisted living, memory care, home care, and skilled-nursing facilities.
Some, but not most, assisted-living and memory- care communities do participate in programs administered by Medicare and Medicaid that are designed for low-income seniors who could otherwise not afford senior-living communities.
Medicaid does cover the cost of long-term care in Medicaid-certified skilled-nursing facilities and home- healthcare services for recipients who would qualify for nursing-home care.
Q: What other senior-living and care options are there?
A: Residential care facilities (also called rest homes) provide meals, housing, supervision, and care for seniors who need assistance with activities of daily living but don’t yet require skilled nursing care.
• Congregate housing is a shared living environment that combines housing, meals, and other services
for seniors but does not provide 24-hour care
“Seniors who
are largely
independent
but can
benefit from
limited home
care or home-
healthcare
services may choose to continue living in their homes as long as these services help them do so safely.”
Move to JGS Lifecare and join our Campus of Care
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JGS: the solution to all your elder care needs!
Call Mary-Anne Schelb 413.935.1791 or email mschelb@JGSLifecare.org
1. Sosin Center for Rehabilitation 2. Wernick Adult Day Health Care 3. Ruth’s House Assisted Living 4. Leavitt Family Jewish Home
5. Spectrum Home Health & Hospice Care 6. Genesis House for Independent Living
770-780 Converse St, Longmeadow, MA 01106 • www.JGSLifecare.org
Enhanced Living at The Inn
Spacious apartment homes for independent seniors seeking a supportive environment
lathrop.kendal.org | 413-437-5892
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