How to Pay Assisted Living Costs
As an elder law attorney seeing the effects, it becomes more alarming every day seeing rising assisted living costs for the elderly here in Michigan and the rest of the United States. As Baby Boomers start to age, the demand for assisted living is going to rise exponentially over the next 10 to 15 years. The National Institutes of Health did a study on what the impact of the Baby Boom generation will have on health care by the time we reach 2030. Their statistics pointed to various important things that far too many people still haven’t taken into consideration.
At the top of the list in their analysis was families finding payment and insurance systems that assures quality care to supersede what’s available now. This was already a major warning on how what we’re doing today isn’t suitable for sustaining this major health care burden in the future.
Regardless, many of those born before 1946 are needing assisted living care as you read this. Those born in the 1920s or 1930s are in their 80s and 90s now, which is the prime age range when assisted living is necessary. Many of those people may need care, yet could live for another decade or more with proper assistance.
Within this concern are their children, or the current Baby Boomers. They have financial concerns of their own and worry about how they’ll afford assisted living for their parents. These concerns become undoubtedly more sobering when you read the statistics on costs.
Assisted Living Costs by the Day
It’s hard to imagine that assisted living is now in the three figures just for a day’s worth of care. LongTermCare.org has current numbers available, and it’s a reminder of how one day of living in an assisted facility costs $205. Over a month’s time, this is well over $6,000, which possibly exceeds even what your aging parent makes in a month from their retirement income.
The statistics above are just for a semi-private room in a nursing home with perhaps not the most inviting environment. An assisted living facility with one bedroom is a little cheaper, though it still comes out to well over $3,000 per month. This possibly exceeds what your parents make, meaning tapping other reserves if they have any.
It’s sometimes more affordable for care directly in the home, despite depending on how much care your parents need. Most home health aides charge within the $20 range per hour, so it’s still not cheap if your parents need assistance most of the day, and every day.
If you’re in a situation where this is the only option, it no doubt has you worried if you have to tap particular resources you wanted to preserve. In some cases, your parents may have financial resources, though they’re possibly locked up with no access.
With proper elder care planning, this doesn’t have to happen. An experienced elder care lawyer knows about hidden financial resources and advanced planning tactics so when the time comes for assisted living, it’s a smooth transition.
Elder Law Planning: How You Can Plan Now for Your Own Future
Hopefully you already planned for your own parents who need assistance now. Not that it’s necessarily too late to take care of things for them currently. However, you also need to think of yourself if you’re a possible Baby Boomer or even younger. All of us may need elder care once we reach our retirement years.
Through estate planning, the crafting of wills, plus income assistance benefits, many options are open for elderly people today. When these matters aren’t worked out in advance, chaos ultimately ensues, including being locked out of potential financial resources.
Here at The Elder Care Firm, we’re a leading elder care law firm that helps everyone plan accordingly so costs of assisted living don’t become the worst possible stress to life.
Contact us now so we can work with you on an elder care legal plan for your situation. You have more financial options than you think. We’ll help plan it this year so your own children won’t have the burden of worrying about your transition when you can’t care for yourself any longer.
The post Assisted Living Costs Keep Rising, Elder Law Planning Can Mitigate the Cost appeared first on Estate Planning Lawyers | Elder Law Attorneys | Brighton | Novi | Livonia Elder Law Attorneys.
