Finding Ways to Finance Senior Nursing Care

It's no secret that the huge baby boom generation is rapidly approaching its retirement years with thousands hitting age 65 each day. In addition, the recession and high unemployment rates of the last few years have rendered many of them less financially secure than they had originally planned to be. Now they are facing retirement with reduced savings and the possibility of cuts in social security and medicare looming in their faces, and they're nervous about what they're going to do should a time come when they need outside help in caring for their own needs. This is a legitimate concern, because nursing home care can be a costly proposition. How are they going to pay for the assistance they need when that time arrives?

People who are counting on Medicare to foot all of their bills for nursing care are in for a rude awakening. If a person is hospitalized for serious health issues, Medicare will only pay $114 per day for the first 20 days of inpatient care. If the person carries a Medicare supplement, Medicare will pay for an additional 80 days as co-payor with the supplemental insurance, for time which may include a transfer from hospital to nursing home care. Coverage of any kind does not kick in unless the patient spends at least 3 days in the hospital or requires some type of skilled care. Therefore, counting on Medicare and Medicare supplements for nursing care is not the best choice.

Medicaid is another option that people can try to qualify for in order to fund extended care. In fact, in the recent past, Medicaid covered 46.3% of the revenue received by nursing facilities in the United States. At the same time, it seldom funds those needing home care, a situation that state legislatures are working to remedy. Home care is definitely less costly than nursing home care. People who would like to be evaluated for home care must spend 90 days being observed in a nursing facility. In addition, they can only have total assets of $2000 in order to qualify. Sadly, seniors have beggared themselves in the effort to qualify for Medicaid assistance.

Private insurance is often the best option for funding nursing care provided the individual involved can afford the premiums which are often quite steep. The federal government has attempted to promote programs that will enable people to carry the expense of their own long term care rather than place the burden on the already-strapped Medicare and Medicaid systems. As a result, states now offer their citizens long-term care plans which are medically underwritten and then either accepted or refused by an insurance company. Costs are based on the individual's age and medical condition.

Long term nursing care for our senior citizens is a problem that we will all need to share now that our government has frittered away the funding for such programs which these citizens have been paying into throughout their lifetimes. It is definitely a problem without a ready solution.