Fall Prevention

Many older adults say they’d prefer to stay in their home for as long as possible in their later years. If you want to support an aging parent or other loved one in this choice, you may be considering hiring someone to help them out at with daily tasks at home. This arrangement is called in-home care. This is different from home health care, which includes medical care at home prescribed by a physician.

There are different options for in-home care depending on what your aging parent needs. You may be looking at paying an adult to live in the home, do the housekeeping, prepare meals, act as a companion, and help your loved one when they need assistance. If your aging parent needs medical assistance or care through the night, you could be looking at a more advanced and expensive level of in-home care.

About 40 hours per week of in-home care costs about $4,800 on average, according to Genworth’s 2018 Cost of Care Survey. By comparison, assisted living costs $4,000 per month on average. Since costs can vary widely based on your location and the amount of care needed, it’s important to do your research to get a good feel for how much you can expect to spend.

Before you commit to in-home care, it’s important to consider how you will pay for it. You may have more options available to you than you might otherwise expect. These include reverse mortgages, annuities, Medicare, collective sibling agreements; private insurance (covered in the next section) such as life insurance and long term care insurance; and public programs (covered in the last section) such as Medicaid and Veterans benefits.

Collective Sibling Agreements

If you’re worried about Mom or Dad living alone, other family members may be worried, too. Working together, families can come up with a plan in which those who can’t help out because of geography or work demands pay siblings who do have that availability and flexibility to be with their parents on a daily basis.

In another strategy, siblings who have available funds can pay in-home caregivers or senior home care agencies now with the understanding that they’ll be paid back for their contribution from the siblings’ collective inheritance or the proceeds of the house after the parents’ death.

Either of these agreements needs to be spelled out very clearly to avoid tension, resentment, or dissension down the line. If a sibling acts as caregiver, she should have a set hourly wage and should keep close track of hours and any expenses incurred, such as gas or groceries, just as an employee would do. If a sibling pays for in-home care with the expectation of reimbursement, she should keep clear records in the form of invoices and receipts or canceled checks. It’s also a good idea to have something in writing to show the executor of the will, or even to put a clause in the will explaining the plan.

Reverse Mortgage

Reverse mortgages were developed by the government specifically for the purpose of helping seniors (originally widows) stay in their homes until the end of their lives.

With a reverse mortgage, seniors can use the value of the equity in their home to get cash now, either all at once or in monthly payments. But instead of borrowing a set sum, the loan balance increases over time. A reverse mortgage allows your loved one to stay in the home until she dies, even if by that time the loan balance exceeds the home’s worth. But at that point, the home must be sold to repay the loan balance.

Reverse mortgages do have limitations: Your loved one has to be 62 or older, and she has to own her home, either outright or with little debt left on the original loan. (The bank that holds the original loan must be paid back before payments are made on the reverse mortgage.) The bank decides on a value based on the home’s worth and also based on your loved one’s age, since that affects the length of time the payouts must cover.

While a reverse mortgage may be the perfect solution to your in-home care dilemma, it also comes with strict rules regarding homeowners’ insurance, mortgage insurance, and home maintenance, making it easy to default. Choose a reputable mortgage broker or bank and read the entire contract carefully. (According to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, reverse mortgage scams and foreclosures are on the rise, often because of high fees or clauses that make it easy to lose the home.)

An Annuity

Annuities are designed to help seniors turn retirement savings or a pension into a steady, guaranteed income stream that pays out until death or for a set number of years. The money can be used to pay for in-home care or, eventually, for assisted living if necessary. An annuity is like a cross between an investment fund and an insurance policy; the money is invested at a fixed or variable interest rate, and then, after an agreed-upon maturation date, you can begin making withdrawals.

Annuities have become controversial because of unscrupulous representatives who take advantage of vulnerable seniors. So help your loved one find a reputable financial institution and representative to consult regarding an annuity purchase.

Another benefit of an annuity is that the sum invested isn’t considered an asset when applying for Medicaid. The government counts the income paid out from the annuity, but not the amount originally invested.

Medicare

It’s not easy to get Medicare coverage for in-home care, and when you do it’s strictly limited. That said, it can be a godsend when you’re faced with a sudden medical crisis or downturn in your loved one’s condition. Medicare coverage is most common when your loved one is being discharged from the hospital or a rehabilitation facility. You’ll contract through a Medicare-certified agency for a period of skilled nursing care and therapy that’s tied to a certain period of expected recovery.

The good news is that Medicare coverage is easier to get than it used to be, and sometime in 2013 it should become easier still. Thanks to the settlement of a lawsuit, Medicare coverage for skilled nursing care and occupational and rehabilitative therapy — either at home or in a nursing home — can’t be limited by whether or not the patient’s condition is improving. Prior to the lawsuit, Medicare criteria would cover treatment only if the patient’s condition showed improvement, which meant that people with chronic conditions like COPD, heart failure, Parkinson’s, and Alzheimer’s lost coverage after a certain period of time.

Look in our directory of government insurance counselors to find a counselor in your area who can help you with Medicare eligibility.

Terms of Service for Southern Hospitality Florida Care, LLC

Welcome to Southern Hospitality Florida Care, LLC's terms of service! By using our services, you agree to the following terms and conditions:

1. We will provide home caregiving services to the best of our abilities based on the agreed upon plan of care.

2. We will respect your privacy and will not share any information or medical records with anyone without your consent.

3. Payment for services rendered is due every Friday (Holidays may effect this day) and can be made by check, cash ($10 fee in Madison County $20 fee outside of Madison county may apply offset fuel charges for picking up payment), credit card, debit card, Cashapp, or Zelle.

4. If you need to cancel or reschedule services, please provide at least 24-hours notice or a cancellation fee may apply.

5. If there are any concerns or issues with the services provided, please contact us immediately so we can address them in a timely manner.

6. We reserve the right to terminate our services if the safety of our employees or the quality of care provided is compromised.

7. Your signature on the service plan agreement acknowledges your agreement to these terms and conditions.

By using our services, you agree to these terms and conditions. If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact us.