In the United States, the median monthly cost of a semi-private room in a nursing home is currently more than $7,500. The cost of a private room exceeds $8,500 per month. Depending on where you live, costs can be considerably higher. In addition, costs rise according to the level of care needed and they are expected to increase dramatically in the future. (Please click to see the current costs for home care, adult day care, assisted living, and nursing home care in your area.) To make matters worse, nearly 70 percent of us over the age of 65 will require long-term care at some point in our lives and 20 percent of us will need long-term care for five years or more.
All of this helps explain why so many families exhaust their life savings within a few years of a family member entering a nursing home. And why more than half of all nursing home stays are now funded by Medicaid.
A Medicaid Crisis is a situation where a person has already moved to a nursing home, or must enter one in the very near future, and has been informed that he or she owns too many assets to qualify for assistance from Medicaid to pay for it. Given the high cost of nursing home care, this situation is indeed a financial crisis for all but the wealthiest families.
If you or a loved one is facing a Medicaid Crisis, try to remain calm. Much of the information we hear about Medicaid from friends, relatives, nursing home staff, caregivers, and many others is outdated or incorrect. A qualified elder law attorney can help you obtain assistance from Medicaid if you must enter a nursing home next month, next week, or tomorrow. In fact, it is possible to get Medicaid assistance even if you are already in a nursing home. And if you have applied for Medicaid assistance in the past but you have been rejected, it is entirely possible that a qualified elder law attorney can still obtain the financial assistance you need.
You’ve worked too hard to lose your life savings to the nursing home. Don’t let misinformation or unexpected life changes prevent you from getting the financial assistance you need and deserve.
