How’s this for some terrific advice?

• When God speaks, we need to listen and obey.
• It’s foolish for a child of God to try to escape; we can run but we cannot hide.
• If we’re His, we’d best leave our bitterness behind and serve instead as willing channels for His love.

 
These were among the key themes of “A Failure To Communicate,” Chris Carrillo’s latest address to the folks at Care-age of Brookfield’s January Christian Music Hour.  
 
Opening up the book of Jonah, Chris delivered a doozy of a message in under 20 minutes – a message with critical advice for God-fearing people of all ages. So grab a cup of coffee, sit back and prepare to be edified, enlightened and even entertained by the preacher that the Lord has blessed us with:

(If you’re reading this via email, please click on the title above to be taken to the audio.)

Want to hear more from Chris? Visit our Messages from Chris Carrillo page soon.   

From just about any angle, long-term care (LTC) is an incredibly complex subject. When you start digging into it, it’s easy to become overwhelmed by the options that greet you at every turn.  
 
Fortunately, the wonderful website Fiscal Tiger has put together a terrific starter resource in its ​Long Term Care for Seniors and People with Disabilities: A Comprehensive Guide. It’s free, and it will give you a solid grounding in the basics—as well as links to many resources for further information.
 
This is the last in our series on finances for the elderly, particularly after a diagnosis of dementia. You’ll find the others here:

• Financial planning in the wake of a dementia diagnosis
• Care costs: what to plan and budget for
• Long-term-care planning

 
I hope you find this material helpful; it was provided for us by Heidi Paris, Fiscal Tiger’s Outreach Coordinator. While this site offers financial advice for virtually anyone, we found its coverage of issues of importance to dementia patients and their families particularly useful. Have questions? Heidi suggests contacting [email protected]. 

 
Possibly one of the most costly aspects of care for Alzheimer’s and dementia patients is the long term care required for a patient living with any dementia related condition. Making long term care plans involves understanding the stage that the patient is in, as well as acknowledging that dementia is progressive and needs will change over time.
 
Medicare/Disability Insurance: Having access to Medicare and disability insurance like Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) is extremely valuable in terms of short term and long term care costs. Both benefits have attributes that help those living with dementia or Alzheimer’s and their long-term care needs. When considering long term care planning and the costs associated with it, having Medicare or disability insurance will help make those care decisions easier.
 
Long Term Care Insurance: Having long term care insurance is a great way to cover the costs associated with a patient’s care throughout the many stages of disease progression. Unfortunately, once an individual is diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, ​they aren’t able to apply for long term care coverage. However, if the patient had it before diagnosis, it can be a great asset.
 
Financial Planners/Advisors: Financial planning and long term care are not the easiest processes. It’s time consuming, and learning nuances can be confusing. Not knowing certain aspects of financial planning can leave a patient without the best care possible. In times like this, it can be helpful to have an outside planner or financial advisor help with the process to avoid any question of dishonesty or self-gain when making decisions for a patient’s finances.
 
Here are some resources:

• Alzheimer’s Association Legal and Financial Worksheet
• Alzheimer’s Association Financial Planning Resources
• Genworth Financial — Compare long term care costs across the United States
• Home modification information — Fisher Center for Alzheimer’s Research Foundation
• Alzheimer’s Association Medicare and Medicaid information

 
Next up: Long Term Care for Seniors and People with Disabilities: A Comprehensive Guide

Here's the second in our series on finances for the elderly, particularly after a diagnosis of dementia. This material has been provided for us by Heidi Paris, Outreach Coordinator for an extraordinary website called Fiscal Tiger. While this site offers financial advice for virtually anyone, we found its coverage of issues of importance to dementia patients and their families particularly useful. Heidi has graciously given us permission to repost this information, so that’s just what we're in the process of doing. Have questions? Heidi suggests you contact [email protected].

Care costs are inevitable when someone is diagnosed with Alzheimer’s or dementia. Though some care situations will vary, certain needs are universal. Through the use of the patient’s assets and financials, or financial assistance, family members or those advocating for them should have an idea of what can be afforded in terms of budgeting.

• Medical care: One of the aspects of care will include medical care. Prescription drugs, hospital visits, doctor visits, imaging, tests, and regular medical intervention will be needed for a patient living with dementia or Alzheimer’s. There will be many follow up visits, treatment, and medical equipment involved throughout the care process.
• Personal care supplies and home modifications: Personal care supplies and home modifications are needed in order to make life as independent as possible for as long as possible. These items include stools, grab bars, ramps, walkers, commodes, etc. Modifications are similar in need and may be required in order for the patient to get around in their home safely.
• Adult day care or in-home care services: Senior homes and retirement housing come in all shapes and sizes. Some retirement communities offer day care or in-home services instead of the traditional full time residential care option.
• Full-time residential care: Full-time, long-term residential care options can be extremely helpful for dementia patients in later stages especially. With so many safety concerns, it can be best to have medical professionals with them at all times. Some of these facilities specialize as Alzheimer’s and dementia care.

Assistance for Covering Costs of Care

Care costs aren’t cheap, so assistance in covering some of these costs is valuable. For patients with some financial backing (as discovered by going through the complete list of financial documents to be organized), paying for care on their own and with the assistance of medicare or other benefits can leave the patient and their family at ease. However, not all Alzheimer’s and dementia patients will have a strong financial backing to help.

Medical debt can be a burden in many ways, so it’s helpful to understand your assistance options, know your medical debt rights, and the resources available when finances are strained as a result of medical need. Through the the use of health care, medicare, life insurance, medicaid, veterans benefits, and state funded programs, patients can have financial assistance in getting the care they need.

Health Care Coverage: There are many different options under the umbrella of health care coverage. No matter what type of health insurance you have, chances are there is some sort of coverage for the medical costs associated with dementia and Alzheimer’s. However, knowing that for sure involves looking into the private insurance policies in place. If the patient doesn’t have insurance, it’s important to look into other assistance available as well as how to pay hospital bills without insurance and how to negotiate a repayment plan.
 
Medicare: According to the Alzheimer’s Association, Medicare should cover inpatient hospital care, doctor’s fees, some prescription drugs, some home care options, hospice, and wellness visits. If the patient qualifies for Medicare, it’s important to apply for this assistance in order to get the most financial help for the care that will be needed.
 
Life Insurance: Understanding the different types of life insurance policies can be confusing, but some life insurance policies can be used for patients who are still alive. For some, life insurance can be borrowed against to help pay for care. Some policies offer accelerated death benefits  in which benefits can be paid if the insured person is not expected to live beyond the next six to 12 months due to a terminal diagnosis.
 
Medicaid: If a patient does not qualify for Medicare, or qualifies for both Medicare and Medicaid, many aspects of care needed by patients with dementia may be covered. Medicaid does cover all or a portion of nursing home costs, which is a giant expenditure in terms of care costs for those with dementia or Alzheimer’s.
 
Veterans Benefits: If the patient is a veteran, or the spouse of a veteran, there are benefits available that may be able to aid in cost for dementia and Alzheimer’s care. Benefits you receive as a veteran can be supplemental to private insurance. Discussing additional benefits as a veteran with the VA may provide even more support for care costs as some may qualify for help with in-home or assisted living care as well.
 
State Funded Programs: Each state has a different set of programs that are funded to help people in need. Looking into your own state and the help that might be available could be supplemental to any private insurance, veteran benefits, etc. that the patient already has.

Next up: Long-term-care planning

We recently received an invitation to share with you some excellent material on finances for the elderly – an invitation from Heidi Paris, Outreach Coordinator for an extraordinary website called Fiscal Tiger. While this site offers financial advice for virtually anyone, we found its coverage of issues of importance to dementia patients and their families particularly useful. Heidi has graciously given us permission to repost this information, so that’s just what we’ll do over the next few weeks.  

Financial Planning

After a diagnosis of Alzheimer’s or any form of dementia, it can be difficult to go through the steps needed to keep finances in order for the patient. It can be too difficult for some, and both patients and their loved ones may be in denial about the severity of the circumstances. However, it’s vital for someone to take control of the financial planning involved to keep the patient’s care a priority. Most of the time, initiating care for an Alzheimer’s or dementia patient involves organizing financial documents, taking a look into care costs, and evaluating their long-term care needs.

Organizing Financial Documents

Having issues managing finances is generally seen around the moderate decline stage of Alzheimer’s or dementia. However, every person is different. Some may see that aspect of cognitive function dip before or after this stage. For this reason, it’s important to start gathering financial documents as soon as possible. Ideally, it’s important to have these conversations while a patient is of sound mind, before dementia has progressed too far, so that all financial decisions are made with their preferences in mind, and all documents are collected with their help.

The first step in financial planning for someone with dementia is to get an idea of that person’s entire financial situation. This not only includes monthly income and bills, but also things like insurance, pensions, and bank information. Getting this information will vary depending on the cognitive standing of the patient experiencing dementia as well as your relationship with them and their understanding of the process. To begin, follow this checklist for financial documents to get organized in order to have a big picture of their finances.

• Monthly income information: Going through monthly income is a vital step in realizing how much the patient can afford in care.
• Stock and bond certificates: Finances aren’t just about income and bills, it’s also about investments. Looking into stocks and bonds will help to understand more of this person’s finances and if any of these need to be liquidated to pay for care.
• Social Security payment information: Social security can be a vital component of income for many seniors. It’s important to look into this payment information and understand the disability benefits.
• Retirement benefit summary: Gathering an entire retirement benefit summary will help to understand the benefits the patient has, as well as what they qualify for. The patient may have a few sources of retirement income you need to know about.
• Pension benefit summary: Does the patient have a pension plan? Does/did their spouse? Answering these questions will give you a better idea of this aspect in their overall income.
• Monthly bills: As with any budget, you’ll need to get an idea of all of their bills as well as their income.
• Outstanding bills: This might paint a more accurate picture of where they are with their disease. If they have any outstanding bills that need to be paid, or new bills that recently became outstanding, it may be a sign of their cognitive functions dwindling and will let you know if you need to step in with credit card use or other financial decisions.
• Insurance policies: Any insurance policies regarding health will be important here. From health insurance to long-term care insurance policies to life insurance, all of these policies will need to be gathered.
• Mortgage papers: Not only will mortgage papers be important in understanding payment obligations each month, it’s also helpful to know in case it’s beneficial for a patient to get out of a mortgage, or a reverse mortgage, in order to stay in long-term care.
• Deeds: Gather any property deeds in order to have an accurate idea of any assets.
• Bank and brokerage information: Gathering bank and brokerage information will be helpful in organizing all of the financials you can find including account information and balances.

 
For more information, please visit Fiscal Tiger’s page on financial and legal planning for patients and their families.

Next up: Care Costs: What To Plan and Budget For