How to Spot Problems at Nursing Homes – Annapolis and Towson Estate Planning

The best time to shop for a nursing home, is when you do not need one. If you wait until you can no longer safely or comfortably live on your own, you probably will not be in a position to do a lot of legwork to investigate facilities. Do your research well ahead of time, so you know the nursing homes in your area that provide high-quality care and, more importantly, the ones that have significant problems.

As you evaluate and compare facilities, you need to know how to spot problems at nursing homes. The marketing brochure, website and lobby might be lovely, but you should base your decision about a long-term care facility on much more data than those things. Here are some tips on how to dig for possible problems at nursing homes:

  • Online search. Check out the nursing home’s website to get an overview of the services it offers and the industry affiliations or certifications it has. Look at the daily menus to see if the meals are nutritious and have enough variety. Most people would not enjoy eating the same main course two or three times a week. Look at the activities calendar to see if you would be happy with the planned social events. On some websites, you can view the floor plans of the resident rooms.
  • Ask your primary care doctor to name a few facilities he would recommend for his parents, and those where he would not want them to live.
  • Local Office on Aging location. Every state has an Office on Aging. Contact them to get as much information as you can about safety records, injuries, deaths, regulation violations and complaints about local nursing homes.
  • Your state’s Long-term Care Ombudsman (LCO). Every state also has an Ombudsman who investigates allegations against nursing homes and advocates for the residents. Your state LCO should have a wealth of information about the facilities in your area.
  • State Online Database or Reporting System. Some states have online databases or collect reports about nursing homes.
  • Medicare’s Nursing Home Compare website. Medicare maintains an online tool, Nursing Home Compare, that provides detailed information on nursing homes. Every nursing home that gets any funding from Medicare or Medicaid is in this database. You can enter the name of a specific nursing home or search for all the facilities in a city or zip code. The tool includes information about abuse at long-term care facilities. On the webpage, you can explore the Special Focus Facility section to find nursing homes with a history of problems.
  • Word of mouth. Ask your friends, relatives and neighbors to recommend a quality nursing home. Personal experience can be extremely valuable.
  • Make a short list of the top candidates. After you collect as much information as you reasonably can, narrow your options down to four or five facilities that best meet your needs and preferences.
  • Visit your top choices. There is no substitute for going to a nursing home and checking it out in person. Pay attention to the cleanliness of the place throughout, not just in the lobby. Give the facility the “sniff” test. Determine whether they use products to mask unpleasant odors, instead of cleaning thoroughly. See whether the residents are well-groomed and wearing fresh, clean clothes. Observe the interaction of the staff with the residents. Notice whether people who need assistance at mealtime, get the help they need without having to wait.
  • Take online reviews with a grain of salt. Fake reviews are all over the internet. If you see a nursing home with only a few reviews, and they are all five stars, be skeptical.

Once you gather this information, you will be ready in the event you need to stay in a nursing home for a short recuperation from surgery or longer term.

References:

AARP. “Finding a Nursing Home: Don’t Wait Until You Need One to Do the Research.” (accessed December 5, 2019) https://www.aarp.org/caregiving/basics/info-2019/finding-a-nursing-home.html

CMS. “Find a nursing home.” (accessed December 5, 2019) https://www.medicare.gov/nursinghomecompare/search.html

Sims & Campbell, LLC – Annapolis and Towson Estate Planning Attorneys

Alternatives to Medicaid – A Short Primer on Long-Term Care Insurance – Annapolis and Towson Estate Planning

Medicaid is a state-run program that caters to those surviving on less than 125% of the official poverty level. Many elderly individuals forego purchasing long-term care insurance, in favor of relying on Medicaid to cover their expenses. Unfortunately, after bankrupting themselves to qualify for Medicaid nursing home coverage, many of these same individuals find themselves dismayed at the lack of choice and care options.

Qualifying for Medicaid Long-Term Care

To obtain long-term care benefits through Medicaid, you must meet the income and asset requirements. In addition, you must be unable to perform at least two of the following six activities of daily living:

  • Feeding
  • Bathing
  • Walking
  • Transferring
  • Toilet Use
  • Dressing

If you qualify, you may be able to get all or most of your care covered, but you don’t have as many options when it comes to choice of facility. Medicaid also doesn’t typically cover adult daycare, assisted living, respite care, or in-home care.

Alternatives for Medicaid Long-Term Care – Not Medicare

With Medicare covering about 1/5th of nursing home care in the U.S., elderly individuals are forced to look at alternative means to cover skilled nursing and other long-term care needs. As it stands, Medicare Part A covers up to 100 days of skilled nursing care. Requirements to qualify are stringent, and few people have the time or understanding to correctly navigate the Medicare system.

Long-Term Care Insurance

If you’re insurable and can afford the premiums, long-term care insurance may be the best option for your long-term care needs. Coverage will vary based on your insurance company and plan options. Be sure to get coverage for all you anticipate you’ll need.

In 2019, the average cost of a semi-private room in a nursing home was $7,513 per month. Private rooms average over $8,000 per month. Even if you don’t anticipate needing that level of care, you should be aware that a one-bedroom apartment in an assisted-living facility costs over $4,000 a month. With inflation, this will likely increase. You don’t want to come up short on coverage.

If long-term care insurance is an option for you, be sure to start planning early. Insurance companies are known to reject more applicants, the older they get. Review your plans each year to ensure your policy still meets your anticipated needs. Make changes if necessary, and never stop paying your premiums, unless you want your insurance to lapse.

Resources:

ElderLawAnswers. “Alternatives to Medicaid: A Long-Term Care Insurance Primer” (Accessed November 28, 2019)  https://www.elderlawanswers.com/elder-law-guides/5/a-long-term-care-insurance-primer

Investopedia. “Medicaid vs. Long-Term Care Insurance: What to Know” (Accessed November 28, 2019)  https://www.investopedia.com/articles/05/031005.asp

Investopedia. “Strategies to Help Pay for Eldercare” (Accessed November 28, 2019)  https://www.investopedia.com/articles/personal-finance/102014/top-5-elder-care-strategies.asp

Sims & Campbell, LLC – Annapolis and Towson Estate Planning Attorneys

Caring for Parents – 4 Alternatives to Nursing Home Care – Annapolis and Towson Estate Planning

As our parents continue to advance in years, questions about how best to care for them often come up, especially around the holidays. Maybe they’re slowing down a bit. Perhaps their memory is slipping. Is it time to shop for nursing homes? Maybe. However, there are alternatives to consider, when it comes to caring for aging parents.

Alternative #1 – In-Home Care

According to studies of aging Americans, this population prefers to remain in their own homes, if possible. They want to retain their personal autonomy, have familiar surroundings, and mostly—they don’t want to be filed away and forgotten. Most seniors that choose to remain in the home are cared for by family, and to a lesser extent, professional home healthcare workers.

While in-home care can be less expensive than a semi-or private-unit in a nursing home, it does have its downsides. This is particularly true, when it is a family member that is providing care. A sense of inequality often arises in the family dynamic, when one person is taking on all of the caregiving duties. When considering in-home care, it is critical to communicate with all family members and come up with an agreement, as to the division of labor for mom and dad.

Alternative #2 – Adult Daycare

Adult daycare may be used as an alternative to nursing home care, or in concert with in-home care. These types of centers enable elderly members to maintain a sense of community. These community centers are growing in popularity, due to the reduced cost of care, which is more than 50% less, according to the MetLife National Study of Adult Day Services. Studies have also shown that these types of facilities improve quality of life in older adults and their caregivers.

Adult daycare centers provide social activities, door-to-door transportation services, meals and snacks, assistance with activities of daily living and other therapeutic services, as needed. There are even specialized facilities for people with dementia or other developmental disabilities.

Alternative #3 – Assisted Living Communities

If the family home has become a hazardous environment for your aging parents, the next step could be an assisted living community. This type of facility offers some of the autonomy that the older “young-at-heart” family members still crave, while offering a scaled level of service onsite. These communities can provide:

  • Transportation
  • Medication Management
  • Healthcare monitoring
  • Entertainment
  • Community Activities
  • Help with Activities of Daily Living
  • Housekeeping
  • Laundry Services

These facilities are more affordable than nursing homes and offer active older people the assistance they need, while encouraging autonomy.

Alternative #4 – Accessory Dwelling Units

Bridging the gap between in-home care and other offsite care facilities, the accessory dwelling unit can be a viable option for those with property that will accommodate an extra unit. Also referred to as “granny flats,” these smaller dwellings provide privacy and autonomy for an aging parent, while also providing proximity of family and caregivers.

Depending on the layout of your property, units may be built over garages or adjacent to the family home. Costs vary by location, property and needs. However, in the long-run it may be less expensive than full-time nursing home care.

Before deciding to place family members in a nursing home, do your research. There are plenty of alternatives out there that may be more affordable and socially-preferable to nursing home life.

Resources:

ElderLawAnswers. “Alternatives to Nursing Home Care” (Accessed November 28, 2019) https://www.elderlawanswers.com/elder-law-guides/7/alternatives-to-nursing-home-care

National Adult Day Services Association. “Comparing Long Term Care Services” (Accessed November 28, 2019) https://www.nadsa.org/

Caring on Demand. “7 Alternatives to Nursing Homes” Accessed November 28, 2019) https://www.caringondemand.com/blog/alternatives-nursing-homes

Sims & Campbell, LLC – Annapolis and Towson Estate Planning Attorneys

How Do Special Needs Trusts Work? – Annapolis and Towson Estate Planning

This is only one of a million questions that parents of children with special needs or caregivers worry about every day,  it is always on their minds. Despite this worry, 72% of parents and caregivers have not yet named a trustee for their child or have not formally planned for their future care or guardianship. This is something that should be at the top of their to-do lists, says kake.com in the article “Special Needs Trusts are Always Available to those Who Need them.”

A Special Needs Trust, also known as an SNT, has many benefits for parents and caregivers, including peace of mind. Here’s what you need to know:

A special needs trust is a way to set aside money for a special needs child or individual. In 2016, President Obama signed the 21st Century Cures Act. This new law made a number of changes to existing laws about SNTs. It gave children with special needs and adults the ability to get funding through a trust. The assets are available to them, in addition to any existing government-funded programs they were receiving. With a SNT, the individual can receive their public help and the extra money also. That includes an inheritance or life insurance payment, after their parents or caregivers pass away.

There are a number of different types of SNTs, so it’s important to talk with an experienced estate planning or elder law attorney who is familiar with the SNT laws and applicable law in your state. The most commonly used SNTs are called ‘self-settled’ trusts and ‘pooled’ trusts.

For a self-settled trust, the individual is allowed to create the trust by themselves, from their own money. If the individual is a minor, a parent or guardian must establish the trust and determine when the individual may take funds from it. Those who are not minors, may create this type of trust without the approval of the court.

A pooled trust is typically created when the individual is older than 65 and establishes the trust on their own.

A trustee must be named for the trust. This should be someone in whom the parents have great faith and confidence.

The biggest benefit for parents or caregivers is the peace of mind of knowing that the disabled individual will have access to additional funds, if they need them. Speak with an estate planning or elder law attorney who can help create the type of trust appropriate for your situation.

Reference: kake.com (Nov. 16, 2019) “Special Needs Trusts are Always Available to those Who Need them”

Sims & Campbell, LLC – Annapolis and Towson Estate Planning Attorneys

Tailoring a Caregiving Plan to Your Family – Annapolis and Towson Estate Planning

If you have a family member who needs ongoing assistance because of a disability, severe medical issue, or a chronic illness, you might need to create a schedule within the family for providing care to that loved one.

Few of us can afford to hire a private nurse for a family member. Many people who need caregiving need someone available 24 hours a day, even if some of that time is watching over the person rather than providing medical attention.

Public assistance programs provide limited, if any services, so most families have to figure out who can pitch in and help care for the loved one. If you are like most people, you could use some suggestions on tailoring a caregiving plan to your family. Recent legislation could make that task easier.

The Inherent Problems of Caregiving

People who are already working full-time and raising their families often end up taking shifts along with other relatives. The situation can go on like this for years. The caregivers become exhausted, physically, emotionally and financially.

Resentment can build if some of the family caregivers feel they are doing more than their share, while others are not doing their part. Years later, the primary caregivers can get accused of undue influence if the person who received help gives a larger portion of the estate to the primary caregivers out of gratitude.

Why Congress is Paying Attention to the Challenges of Family Caregiving

Our population is aging. By 2026, the baby boomer generation will start to turn 80 years old. Many people in their eighties need long-term care, either in the home or a facility. The high numbers of baby boomers and the declining birthrates mean there will be more people needing family caregiving and fewer relatives available to provide those services.

Family caregiving takes a massive chunk out of our economy each year. Experts say 40 million people in the United States provide unpaid caregiving services to their adult loved ones who have limitations in their daily activities. The experts on aging value these services at around $470 billion a year.

Another 3.7 million Americans take care of a disabled child under the age of 18. Some people have to provide caregiving for both an older adult and a child. People in the field estimate that about 6.5 million people in our country fall into this category.

The caregivers face immediate and long-term financial crises, because of the time they devote to the needs of their vulnerable loved ones. In the moment, the caregiver might have to cut back on work hours or leave a paying job to be there for the family member in need. Losing a paycheck and benefits can put a caregiver into economic hardship. Many caregivers live in poverty in the future because it was impossible to contribute to retirement savings or the Social Security system during the long years of caregiving.

Congress is working on measures to provide more public resources for family caregivers. The “Recognize, Assist, Include, Support, and Engage (RAISE) Family Caregivers Act” contains strategies for state and communities to support caregiving families. Increased assessments and service planning dovetailed with education, supports and respite options can impact financial security and workplace issues of caregivers. The new law centers on both caregivers and people receiving the care.

References: AARP. “Building a Family Caregiving Strategy to Align with the Real Needs of Families.” (accessed October 31, 2019) https://blog.aarp.org/thinking-policy/building-a-family-caregiving-strategy-to-align-with-the-real-needs-of-families

Sims & Campbell, LLC – Annapolis and Towson Estate Planning Attorneys