Elder Care Planning

Unlike other aspects of estate planning, elder care planning focuses on what should happen if you live to an old age. This refers to time when a person is not able to physically or mentally work and support themselves. It is also the time when a person might need more medical or general care. Therefore, when creating a plan, a person might want to consider focusing on few different documents and issues. 

• A person might want to look at Medicare and Medicaid when drafting a elder care plan. It is important to understand the difference between the two. Medicare deals with health care for the elderly and does not cover long-term care like nursing home stays. Medicaid covers nursing home care. For Medicaid, which provides care for the poor, a recipient must meet a couple of requirements that are different from state to state.
• Alternatively, a person might also want to purchase long-term health insurance.
• Finally, a person might want to fill-out a power-of-attorney document. This would allow a person to designate who will take care of that person’s finances should that person become incapacitated.

See Scott Holsopple, Make Elder Care Part of Your Financial Plan, U.S. News & World Report: Money, July 23, 2012.

Special thanks to Jim Hillhouse (Professional Legal Marketing (PLM, Inc.)) for bringing this article to my attention.