A few years ago, I realized that my dad needed to move into a care facility instead of living with us. He was always depressed and he needed to be around more people his own age. It was a really difficult decision, but after we moved him into a care facility, he really blossomed. It was great to see him happy, healthy, and enjoying things on his own. This blog is here to help other people to enjoy their own lives and to care for loved ones who need special assistance. I know that with the help of assisted living, everyone can enjoy a better life.
Improving Your Loved One's Nursing Home Experience
3 Things to Think About and Look Into to Help Your Senior Parents Pay for the Assistance They Need
Nora Jones
If you know that your senior parents are going to be in need of additional assistance in order to take care of their healthcare and daily needs, here are three things that you need to look into to help you finance your parent's elderly years.
Make a Budget
The first thing that you need to do is sit down with your parents and make a budget. Find out how much money they currently are getting every month from their social-security benefits and from any other retirement accounts that they have. Then, figure out what monthly expenses they currently have and how much money they have left to cover any additional expenses. Work together to figure out whether there are any areas where your parents can downsize or cut down on expenses so that they have more money to pay for healthcare needs.
Second, sit down and look at your own budget. Figure out whether you can contribute to your parents' healthcare needs. It is important that you are still able to meet your expenses and save for your own retirement as well; you don't want to go broke paying for your parents' care. Before using your own money, you need to look into public benefits that are available to you.
Explore Public Benefits
Third, you need to look into the public benefits that are available to you. A good place to start is the benefits check-up page provided by the National Council on Aging. On this page, you can find resources for assistance with paying for prescriptions and paying for food. Even if your parents feel like they can afford to pay for food, getting assistance with their food expenses can allow your parents to direct more of their resources toward their healthcare and assistance needs.
If your parents do need assistance with food, meals on wheels helps provide and delivered cooked meals that your parents will not have to make for themselves right to their front door.
You should also find out where the local eldercare agency is located in your area. You can find this by using the search engine on the National Association of Area Agencies on Aging website. These agencies can offer assistance to your parents. The type of assistance offered varies depending on the agency in your area, but they often offer services such help assisting your parents' need for care and helping you find and pay for the in-home care that your parents need.
Understand Your Parent's Medicare and Medicaid Benefits
Finally, make sure that you and your parents understand their Medicare and Medicaid benefits. Many people don't fully understand what benefits these government programs provide them with. Find out what type of Medicare coverage plan your parents pay for, what their co-pay and out-of-pocket expenses are, and what is covered under their medical plans. Some of the care that your parents are paying for out of pocket may be covered by their health insurance if they enroll in the right coverage plans. Make sure that you fully understand their plans so that you and your parents don't pay for medical expenses that you don't have to.
Taking care of healthcare needs and daily assistance needs can be manageable if you and your parents work together to figure out your budget for these expenses and how their healthcare works and look into the public assistance that is available to them. This will take time and research, but it will allow you to make sure that your parents' needs are taken care of as they age.
Talk to a company such as Chapin Home For The Aging for more information.
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