I see it every day. Family caregivers are in shock over the overwhelming costs of care for their aging loved ones.
This may be impacting you as well. You’ve started caregiving and you had no idea how expensive it would be just to ensure that your aging loved one receives adequate care.
There is a convergence of realities contributing to the high out-of-pocket costs of elder care.
- Medicare isn’t the safety net we all assume it is. The purpose of Medicare is to cover “medical care,” which is doctors visits and medical events like surgery or procedures. I can cover a certain amount of rehabilitation needed as a result of a procedure, but that’s where its coverage ends. There are prescription plans and supplemental plans that can be added, however you won’t find much of Medicare dipping into the coverage of home care, home health, adult day care or assisted living.
- Our aging loved ones will need care for a long time! The Baby Boomers are living on average 19 years longer than the generation before them, according to the American College of Occupations and Environmental Medicine. This means in one generation we gained two decades of life. When you take on care for your aging loved one, it is likely for a longer time than when your parents were caring for your grandparents. Paying for care for a long time is something that requires some planning and will cost a lot.
- Aging-in-place is becoming the primary option for care. Most people want to stay home as long as they can. Both the aging individual and the family caregiver strives to keep this a reality. Also, with the Baby Boomer generation being so large, community-based care settings like independent living and assisted living, just don’t have enough room. Not to mention the shortage of professional care staff we are facing in the U.S. The type of care you give in the home so that looks as healthy and safe as possible is largely private pay.
Here’s some in-depth information about the realities of elder care costs.
So what can you do?
As I’ve worked with families on tackling the financial crisis that comes with caregiving, I’ve learned some tips and tricks. We target three big areas with our work.
- How can we get care costs down?
- How can we get more money into your care situation?
- What resources exist in your community?
Hacks for financing care.
- ALWAYS take a look at hospice care. While this has long been associated with “end-of-life” care, that is no longer the case. In response to the lack of Medicare coverage for home and community-based care, hospice has expanded it’s criteria. Now, individuals can qualify for hospice care and even graduate out again if they improve. Criteria for hospice often includes indicators such as frequent falls, increased dependence for activities of daily living, recurrent infections, increased chair-bound or bed-bound status. For most family caregivers, these indicators look pretty familiar to the type of care they are already giving. Hospice care can take place at home, it comes with an entire interdisciplinary healthcare team, and it is covered by Medicare and most health insurance plans! Not to mention they have creative extra services like counseling, music therapy, and strive to support the family caregiver as much as possible. Typically you get 2-3 days of care and any medical equipment that the team determines is needed with be 100% covered. If more care is needed outside of when hospice is with your loved one, you can fill in the gaps instead of looking for everything, thus bringing down the costs.
- Contact your Area Agency on Aging (AAA). Using this elder locator tool to search for your local Area Agency on Aging (AAA). It is common for them to go by a different name in each region, so don’t be thrown by what they call themselves. Give them a call and share your caregiving story. Tell them specifically what you need and ask what services they have that you can tap into. I have found AAAs that provide up to 10 hours of Home Care at no costs to seniors in their service area. Many AAAs have home-delivered meals, companionship services, and family caregiver programs. These agencies are funded by the government and exist to support their senior citizens and those caring for them.
- Call Home Care agencies and ask if they can hire you. This doesn’t exist everywhere, but there are many home health agencies that hire family caregivers to care for their own aging loved one. You get paid by the agency to do something you are already doing. The state of Illinois has a wonderful model for this. The family caregiver is trained with the home care agency and gets set up with everything they need. Check to see if there are programs like this around you.
- Make sure your family has their plans. I am continually shocked to learn how many families get so far down the care road and still haven’t put together their important legal documents! While this might not save you tons of money now, it will down the road. The realities of not having estate planning and key legal documents in place BEFORE they are needed can be dire. Also, make sure once they are in place, the right people know where they are at all times.
These are just a few hacks and tips for tackling the financial strain of elder care. Most people would never know about them. I’ve had the benefit of working with families across the country and have built a pretty comprehensive landscape of strategies for paying for care. The least I can do is share some of the creative tips I’ve learned and how you can investigate them yourself.