On Friday, October 2, I spoke to the members of the Arc of Northern Virginia on “Medicaid Planning for Seniors”. Did you know that if you do not have long-term care insurance or not enough coverage, your retirements and savings may be wiped out by the cost of long-term care? The healthier spouse may be left destitute with not enough resources for his/her own need of future care.
For example, a nursing home semi-private room in the DC metro area costs an average of almost $11,500 per month. A private room is almost $12,500. This according to the Genworth Annual Cost of Care study.
The average stay in a skilled nursing facility is 835 days, a little more than two years, according to the National Care Planning Council. However, Medicare only pays for your first twenty days.
That's why it is vital to plan a legal strategy that allows you to get the long-term care that you need in a high quality nursing facility without becoming impoverished.
Fortunately, there are legal steps you can take to make sure you can receive the nursing home care you may one day need, but the key is planning.
Priority #1: You need to make sure that your estate planning documents includes options for Medicaid planning.
Priority #2: Then, you may consider establishing a Senior Asset Protection Trust, an irrevocable trust that protects your assets as well as the income and interest you will receive from the trust.
The above steps have their own benefits and risks. We cover more in a new complimentary online seminar on Saturday October 10, 2020 at 11:30 am. Details are below. We hope you will join us!
If you have questions about how nursing home costs may affect you, please don't hesitate to contact us.
Sincerely,
Yahne
