The world is seeing a rise in elderly patients needing assistance with their daily lives, mostly due to modern medical technologies that help lengthen their lifespan.
The most efficient route is to get them into a nursing home, where they can mingle with other elderly patients.
However, the high costs convince many to have their parents stay in their own homes. It’s also preferable for patients with dementia as they’re in a familiar and comfortable place.
Still, the cost of in home healthcare is rather heavy to bear, especially when you’re carrying it alone. It can easily cost you about $20,000 a year, but expect to pay more if your parents need 24/7 assistance.
How will you be able to afford it?
Don’t worry, your parents will get the care they deserve. Read on to find out what options you have to help alleviate the costs.
1. Long-Term Care Insurance
Planning ahead is the best course of action when you’re trying to save on in-home healthcare costs for your elderly parents. Pay for it even before they need it. They’ll likely be the ones to pay for it when they’re still young, though, so make sure they know of this option.
Check out long-term care insurance policies that include in-home care benefits. Your parents can start paying for the premiums in their 50’s so they can reap the benefits in their 80’s.
This will help pay for a large portion of your parents’ daily in-home care needs when the time comes. That means it will be easier on your pocket as well.
Well, how would you know if your parents need one? If your family has a history of cognitive ailments like dementia or strokes, your parents have a higher chance of needing long-term care. It increases when they’re healthy as well since it will be more possible for them to survive into their 90’s.
2. In Home Healthcare Assistance Programs
If the chance to get a long-term care insurance policy has passed, you’ll need all the help you can get. Consider looking into Medicare, Medicaid, and other programs in your state.
Medicare
Medicare will pay part of your parents’ in home nursing care needs, but only if they’re “homebound.” This is what Medicare calls the elderly who can’t leave their homes without assistance.
Furthermore, this program doesn’t cover non-medical home care, such as housekeeping, bathing, and dressing the patient.
Medicaid
Medicaid pays for non-medical home care if your parents are eligible. The requirements vary by state, as well as the benefits. In general, this program is for impoverished people with no more than $2,000 worth of countable assets.
Medicaid refers to in home care as Home and Community Based Services (HCBS), which is under State Plan Medicaid or Medicaid Waivers.
Veterans Programs
Did your parent serve in the military during World War II, the Vietnam War, or the Persian Gulf War? The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs has a program called Aid and Attendance that helps wartime veterans to pay for in home care.
However, your parent must meet the service and disability requirements in addition to asset and income limitations in order to be eligible.
State Programs
Most states should have their own in-home healthcare assistance programs as well. Check with your state if they have a program that can help your aging parents!
3. Tax Deductions
Caring for your parents? You might be eligible for a tax deduction, which you can then use to help pay for their adult home care needs.
You can claim them as a dependent, but you need to be providing at least 50% of their financial support for a year. You and several other members of the family can pitch into that 50%, but only one of you can claim a parent as a dependent.
If the elderly are filing their own taxes, they can get Elderly and Disabled Tax Credit or Medical and Dental Expense Credit provided their income is below the limit.
4. Life Insurance Conversions
If your parents have a life insurance, they can choose to convert their policy into cash or home care services. They have three options in which they’ll stop paying the premium.
A viatical settlement is for the elderly with a 2-year life expectancy. They’ll sell their policy for less than the face value for a lump sum.
A life settlement, on the other hand, involves selling the insurance for more than the cash surrender value but less than the death benefits. This is more applicable for those with a longer life expectancy.
For your parents who need in home care, you might prefer the third option, which converts the life insurance into home care services. This is also the only option wherein your parent can still apply for eligibility for Medicaid afterward.
5. Home Care Loans
The above options take too long? You might have to take out a home care loan, which is specifically for funding elder care while you’re waiting for approval from assistance programs.
The Aid and Attendance program for veterans, for example, may take upwards of 6 months. However, the lump sum provided will also cover the cost of home healthcare starting from the filing date, which you can then use to pay for the loan.
Similarly, you can take out this type of loan when you’re waiting for a buyer of a property, which you’re intending to pay for your parents’ home care.
6. Affordable Home Care Services
While these assistance programs will help, there’s no harm in trying to save as much as you can. Try to negotiate the rate of an agency as well if you can.
You may also ask your family and friends if they can provide some hours in their week to check in on your parents. If you have a place of worship, they might be able to refer some volunteers.
Above all, make sure that the people surrounding your parents genuinely care for them. It’s not worth the savings if a caregiver isn’t treating your parent right at the last years of their life.
Find Reliable and Genuine Caregivers Now
Get only the most caring and well-trained caregiver. With the options listed above, there’s always a way to ensure your parents get the attention they need with a good home healthcare agency.
Looking for a good home healthcare agency? Not sure which one your parents would feel welcome and comfortable with? Contact us now and let us help provide the best possible in home healthcare for your parents.
Financing In Home Healthcare
