 Long Term Care
Someone with a prolonged physical illness, a disability, or a cognitive impairment (such as Alzheimer's disease) often needs long-term care. Many different services help people with chronic conditions overcome limitations that keep them from being independent. long-term care is different from traditional medical care. Long-term care helps one live as he or she is now; it may not help to improve or correct medical problems. Long-term care services may include help with activities of daily living, home health care, respite care, hospice care, adult day care, care in a nursing management services, which will evaluate your needs and coordinate an monitor the delivery of long-term care services.
Personal care sometimes called custodial care) helps one with activities of daily living (ADLs). These activities include bathing, eating, dressing, toileting, continence, and transferring. Personal care is less involved than skilled care, and it may be given in many settings.
Long-term care is one other way you may pay for long-term care. This type of policy will pay for some or all of your long-term care. It was introduced in the 1980s as nursing home insurance but has changed a lot and now covers much more than nursing home care. You should know that a federal law, the health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, or HIPAA, gives some federal income tax advantages to people who buy certain long-term care policies. These policies are called Tax-Qualified Long-term Care Contracts, or simply Qualified Contracts. *
Long Term Care Insurance is still a relatively new type of insurance product and many people do not understand what long-term care policies cover, how, when and to whom the policies pay benefits and who needs to obtain coverage.
There are many comparable long-term care products available and not all products are equal. Before you buy a long-term care policy be sure you have carefully considered what your needs are and what you want out of a long-term care insurance product. Then make sure the policy you select will provide the benefits you need. Above all, make sure you work with a financial consultant and insurance company that you trust and understand long-term care insurance.
It is very important to consider a company's financial strength ratings and rate increase history when selecting a carrier for a long-term care policy. A long-term care policy is a long-term investment and buyers should be confident that their carrier will be there in the future if they need them. We hope that you will never need long-term care, but if you do, please contact us to discuss plans and options that best suit your needs.
 
 Women and Long-Term Care
Women traditionally provide and receive the majority of long-term care services. Thus the issue of long-term care should be important to you. During your lifetime you may need to care for other family members, care that may require substantial costs. At the end of your lifetime you may also need to receive care, again at potentially highly cost.
Women entering the new millennium eat healthier foods, take more vitamins and exercise more than your Mother and your Grandmother. As a result, you can expect to live much longer than your maternal ancestors, and you may outlive your spouse. Increased longevity may also mean the increased portability that you will need long-term care as a result of the natural aging process, a lengthy illness, an accident or cognitive impairment. The type and quality of long-term care services that you may one day receive could impact your standard of living and your quality of life as you age.
Women are more likely than men to assist aging or disabled family members with bathing, dressing, and other activities of daily living. You may also shop for groceries, do household chores, prepare meals, give medications, care for children under eighteen and work - a potentially exhausting situation! Whether you are a wife, Mother, daughter, sister, niece or friend, your dual care giving situation can take a toll on your own emotions and your physical health.
One day you may find yourself in need of long-term care. You may not have someone to provide you with the care that you need. The quality of care that you receive, whether in your own home or in nursing facility, and the ability to finance that care will surely be of importance to you. You will likely want to have choices, wherever possible, in the type of care that you receive. Consider long-term care to assist you with your needs.
 Medicare and Medicare Supplement Insurance
Medicare's skilled nursing facility (SNF) benefit does not cover most nursing home care.* Medicare will pay the cost of some skilled care in an approved nursing home or in your home but only in specific situations. The SNF benefit only covers you if a medical professional says you need daily skilled care after you have been in the hospital for at least three days and you are receiving that care in a nursing home that is a Medicare-certified skilled nursing facility. While Medicare "may" cover up to 100 days of skilled nursing home care per benefit period when these conditions are met, after 20 days beneficiaries must pay a coinsurance fee. While Medicare may pay for nursing home care sometime, it does not cover the cost of care in assisted living facilities.
While many people would like to receive care in their own homes, Medicare does not cover homemaker services. In addition, Medicare does not pay for home health aides to give you personal care unless you are homebound and are also getting skilled care such as nursing or therapy. The personal care must also relate to the treatment of an illness or injury and you can only get a limited amount of care in any week. You should not rely on Medicare to pay for your long-term care needs.*
Medicare supplement insurance is private insurance that helps pay for some of the gaps in Medicare coverage, such as hospital deductibles and excess physicians' charges above what Medicare approves. Medicare supplement policies do not cover long-term care cost.
Medicaid
Medicaid is the government-funded program that pays nursing home care only for individuals who are low income and who have spent most of their assets. Medicaid pays for nearly half of all nursing home care on an aggregate basis, but many people who need long term care never quality for Medicaid assistance.* Medicaid also pays for some home and community-based services. To get Medicaid help, you must meet federal and state guidelines for income and assets. Many people start paying for nursing home care out of their own funds and "spend down" their income until they are eligible for Medicaid. Medicaid may then pay part or all of their nursing home costs. You may have to use up most of your assets on your health care before medicaid is able to help. *
Helpful Links
Directory of Atlanta Nursing Homes
Directory of Georgia Nursing Home
* Additional Source
- 2003 Notional Association of Insurance Commissioners
- U.S. Department of Labor, 2000 Medicare; medicare will pay less than 10 percent of nursing home costs.
- CMS National health Expenditures, January 2002. Medicaid pays for 48% of all nursing home care.
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