Helpful Tips to Help You and Your Loved Ones Plan For Long Term Care
Caring for a disabled family member can be exhausting and navigating the system for public benefits to provide for your loved one’s ongoing financial security only increases the burden. Here are some helpful tips to get you started with long-term care.
Start Planning EARLY!
Nobody knows if they or a loved one will need long term care at some point. Hopefully it never happens, but sometimes the unexpected can occur and needs change in a flash. The best time to think about long term care is before you or someone you love needs it! Planning early will give you time to learn about your options that are available and the costs incurred with them. You will need to make decisions about health, legal, and financial obligations while you are still able to.
Health Care Decisions
It might be helpful to think about what would happen if you or a loved one became ill or disabled. Who would need to provide care if it was needed for an extended period of time? Are there things you can do to lead a more healthy lifestyle? Talk to your family about your health care wishes and make sure it’s written down.
Legal Decisions
Long term care planning involves legal decisions as well. Documents that state your wishes for medical care in the event of an emergency, life threatening injury, or at the end of your life are crucial to make sure your wishes are carried out. It’s important to contemplate what you or a loved one will want in advance and discuss these desires with a trusted attorney. Often times, these conversations are difficult, but taking care of this in advance can alleviate the burden later on. Some important documents to consider having are: power of attorney, do not resuscitate orders (if so desired), and a living will.
Financial Decisions
Planning for the future financially is a crucial step in long term care planning. Most people don’t have the financial means to cover all of their possible long term care needs. Government and private health insurance will pay for certain long term care needs, but oftentimes not all of them. It’s important to find out what things will be covered and what won’t. You should also contemplate how you or a loved one would feel about using their personal resources (like pensions, savings, Social Security, etc.) to cover long term care needs.
We Can Help!
You don’t have to go it alone – we can help. Our attorneys understand the labyrinth of laws and regulations related to public benefits, disability benefits, veteran’s benefits and long term care planning. We can guide you toward the best legal and economic decisions for your specific situation.
Contact us at (505) 872-0505 to set up an evaluation today!