Funding Options for Long-Term Care with Daphne Davis

*The following is the output of transcribing from an audio recording. Although the transcription is largely accurate, in some cases it is incomplete or inaccurate due to inaudible passages or transcription errors.

The following podcast is provided by pinnacles senior placements LLC and answers for elders radio. And Welcome back to answers for elders radio everyone. We are here again with Wonderful Daphne Davis and we’re talking about financial you know, how do you have fun long turn care and you know, Daphne, I’m so glad you’ve agreed to come back because there’s this is such a huge topic, for this is our families today is it’s one that stops people. They just get stymied. They’re like, oh, we can’t do anything, and a lot of people don’t know about their options that they have and one that’s overlooked many times. I’ll just throw this out. There is aid end attendance, absolutely and that that option is through veterans benefits, and I will say it’s getting to be more well known that that’s a benefit out there. But for the general consumer, they’re going aid in attendance. I’ve never heard of that. And how come nobody hasn’t told me about it? Right? And sometimes when you go to your va benefits person they may not know about it. It’s amazing. I know I have talked to a couple of people that are that are military you know or that our family members, and I’ll ask did your your father serve in the military, and they go will yeah, well, where they dire active during war time? And they go, well, yeah, I served in the Korean War. It’s like Ding, Ding, Ding, Ding, Ding Ding. That of benefit is available. That’s exactly right. So you hit out a couple of things when you have to serve during more time and it has to be an honorable discharge, right. So those two things are the only ones. Also, it’s extended to their spouse. If they still are married to their spouse, then it’s okay and doesn’t matter if the veteran is deceased or not. That benefit is still available. So that can be a significant amount of money. It changes from year to year. It also changes depending upon what your care needs are. And here’s a little buzz word, ADL’s, which are called activities of daily living. You have to have two of those, two out of six, and I can rattle some of them off, but it’s just things that you need to do during the day of right toileting, dressing, eating, transferring, you know, showering, all those kinds of things that are activities of daily living. Right, you do have to have two of those as well. Right. So there is a qualifying situation. There is a little bit of a financial qualifying also, but it’s not real stringent. Know, it’s really not. I’m surprised, yeah, but there is one. There are situations that I have had a couple people denied because of their financial health and that’s a good thing overall, but that’s something that can be anywhere from I’m going to roughly give you numbers of one hundred dollars to about one thousand seven hundred and eighteen hundred dollars, and that depends upon if you’re a spouse or if you’re the veteran and what your health care needs are. But that is monthly. It does take, I’m going to say the word, laborious process of applying for it and I do not recommend you doing that alone. Now there’s free services. Never pay anyone to help you with aid in attendance. There’s free services to make that process go as smoothly as possible and it does have a waiting period. That is retroactive to the day that you applied and is approved, not an end approved, but just applied. That can take up to about four months. Right now, four to six months as a kind of the turnaround for getting your first check. Yeah, so, but you get that first check and, like I said, it is retroactive back, so that can be a source of income for helping with long term care. The other thing that a lot of people don’t know about for aid and attendance is that it can be used in your home. Absolutely little bit harder to apply for and to qualify for, but not impossible. Every situation is different and the idea is gather enough information so you can ask the questions and I have seen that work really well for, let’s say the spouse is more than capable and independent, but one of the you know, one of the let’s say dad needs care. That is the thing that is really in attendance is so helpful. Yep, absolutely, absolutely. It keeps mom and dad in the home. It helps offset that, you know, mom is taking care of Dad, those types of things. So I’ve seen where an attendance can be so helpful and and that’s based on a dollar amount for hours to be able to be at home, so it’s not towards a twenty four hour type care in the home. That that won’t happen, but it is the supplemental to in Home Care. Absolutely, absolutely, and you know we talked a little bit earlier about Medicaid. But but there’s also long term care insurance and and why I am such an advocate for it now, and anybody that’s fifty and over should have it. Well, at least explore it, look at look at your situation, talk to a financial planner, talk to someone who is a broker for long term care insurance. It has changed a lot in the last five years. Has Because one out of every two people make use of their long term care insurance, so fifty percent of the people are making a claim on it. So it is something that is very valuable. It’s can be termed expensive, but it does help you and when that crisis happens. Like any insurance, there are different things that you can add on as writers to your insurance policy. There are periods of time of elimination where you have to put that bill at the beginning, whether that be three thousand and sixty ninety days, and that all affects the cost of your policy. One thing that I really encourage people to look at is if you are in your s and looking at long term care insurance, really evaluate the wisdom of having an inflationary clause rider on there by the time in twenty years, twenty thirty years, that you need help the cost of care. It’s good, it’s gonna go up. It really so don’t be caught with you know, two hundred dollars a day policy. Today it is really four hundred dollars a day. Well, and I think to there’s long term care insurance policies that are part of life insurance policy, which a lot of you know. This is something that I think is so great because if you’re in your s and your kids are grown up, there really isn’t a need for a beneficiary after you die. That’s right, and I think that this there’s some wonderful ways in life insurance policies that you can purchase when you’re in your S, and I think there’s even some policies, if you’re already paying on a life insurance policy, that you can convert over to and I’ve seen that happen as well. That’s exactly right. It’s and again, every situation is different. So please talk to your insurance broker, you know, to find out what your situation is. But all of what you just said is true, that there is sometimes some cash value in your life insurance policies that can be used towards long term care. That’s also a piece that goes into when you’re qualifying for Medicaid also, so factor that in as well. It the bottom line is have enough information to ask questions. Absolutely have enough information to say I don’t know everything about this, but can you tell me more? Yeah, so we are talking to Daphne Davis from Pinnacles, senior placements and death. Nie, tell us again where you serve. We serve in strongly from Snow homish down to Thurston County. We go over into KITSAPP, so that’s the homeish King Pierce, Thurston kids APP, a little bit of Jefferson. We’re all overscatchet. But we have a really good staff of people add pinnacle that can help help you in any area and when you have, you know, just my eighteen years of experience, we can certainly point you in the direction of who can help you the best if we can. And also, you know, really understanding that the services that pinnacle offers families it costs nothing, yeah, for you to utilize pinnacles paid similar to a realtor, so whether they help you out with some home care. Their fee comes out of by paying. You know from the company that yea, that it’s like a referral fee. That’s right. So you, as families, know that. You know how you have everything to gain. So when we talked about just you know, in the last segment of the show today, what are some of the questions that family should be asking in terms of the finances, I think one that comes to mind all the time is what happens if my mom or dad runs out of money? Do they have to move again? And they question that is and and you’ll get a different answer. No, better where you go. That all right. That’s right. And as the person who is really the advocate for you, the family, and I respect all forms of care, at all forms of housing. They all serve a purpose. It’s just finding the right fit. But one of the highest values that pinnacle has is when we help you with your loved when we want them to not have to move again, unless it’s back home, unless health has changed and they’ve gotten better, but we don’t want them to move again. And that question of what happens when my mom or daddy runs out of money. You don’t want to hear. Well, they have to move. Yeah, we have no provision to accommodate either their monthly income as a as the maximum in payment, excuse me, or that they convert to Medicaid. Those are these really the only two things that when here’s the thing that when you say that that was a question, I did not ask and as a result, I had to move my mother four times, I didn’t know the difference and every single time I moved my mother it was extremely stressful, you know, and and it was a stressful on me as a daughter. So, you know, understanding to make sure that those questions are asked. have an ally like Daphne that is there that helps you understand, you know kind of that your basis are covered, that you know you’re going to be with the goal of always doing the right thing for the right reasons. Ever said, I know, I know your motto. That is my motto, you know. Along with that, that’s not just a financial decision either. That can be looking at an overall health picture and being able to, you know, as much as we don’t have a crystal ball, being able to anticipate a little bit of what could be down the road and it may be something. Some form of CARE is appropriate today, but you, the family, with your loved one, need to talk about and have the conversation that says, mom or Dad, I know that you could do okay in this form of care right now, but in reality will probably have to be moving in about a year. Huh, do you want to move again in a year or do you want to go to a higher level of care right now, right or do we want to make sure that we have the provisions of that in the community that we’re we’re choosing today, which you can do too, and understanding that every type of community charge just differently for assisted living. So as mom or DAD’s needs increase, some communities charge flat fee, other communities charge according to a point system. The more care you need, the more money at costs. So it really depends again on you know, what is the best fit for your loved one and all those factors go into obviously, and that’s where you can have that objective person. I’m sorry to break my arm pet myself on the back, but it’s where you have that objective person to say you know, Suzanne, did you think about this with your mom exactly, because you see your mom as a certain person and you wish for her and I certain lifestyle, and I’m not a professional. If I come in as her daughter, I think will mom. You just need to walk mark. Maybe mom doesn’t can’t walk like I think, but there’s a lot of times we as families are in so much denial about really what is right for our loved ones. So definitely, how do we reach you? You can reach me the best way at eight hundred and fifty five, seven, three, four, one, five hundred and also our website at pinnacle senior placements. I’m so glad you’re here today on a program thank you. The preceding podcast was provided by pinnacles senior placements LLC and answers for elders radio. To contact pinnacles senior placements, go to Pinnacle Senior Placementscom.