Why You Can't View Medicare As a Comprehensive Plan for Long Term Care

Medicare is often an important component of your overall health expenses and plan for your retirement years. However, it is a misconception to assume that it will help you when it comes to your long-term care expenses.

Given that long term care expenses, especially those associated with nursing home stays can be very expensive and

can dip into your savings significantly, it is important to sit down with an elder law planning attorney to walk through all of your options and ensure that you have a backup plan in place.

One of the costliest Medicare exclusions is long term care coverage. Medicare does cover certain expenses associated with a skilled nursing facility in very limited circumstances, such as when you are returning after a very long hospital stay and need support from a medical professional to recover. However, it does not pay for what is known as custodial care in a nursing home or at home.

If you need assistance from an outside person to help you with activities of daily living, such as using the bathroom, eating or getting dressed, you will be responsible for covering the costs. This long term care can be very expensive, particularly when it comes to using a home health aide. Many people prefer to stay in their own home and be comfortable, but this means that you might need to pay monthly costs of over $4,000 for this form of support.

You should discuss your elder law options and alternative planning arrangements with an attorney.

Since Medicare won’t pay most long term care expenses, you’ll need some other strategy for potential long term care costs. One option is Medicaid. Schedule a consultation with a trusted elder law attorney to walk through the different aspects of your elder law plan and get the support that you need from a dedicated and trusted estate attorney in NH.