No matter how hard it is to accept, most of us will require care assistance of some sort after the age of 60 or 65. In your younger years, hard work that required immense physical strength was nothing, and you could do the exact same thing over and over again on any given day. As you get older, however, even seemingly simple daily activities like waking up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom and getting in and out of a car, are getting more difficult. When taking care of yourself gets too physically demanding, you come to realize that it might be the right time to get some eldercare in order.
What Are My Options?
There are two options: aging in place or senior housing. The former refers to receiving eldercare at your own home instead of moving into an assisted living facility. As long as you only need minor assistance with daily activities, aging in place is preferable because you get to stay close with family and friends nearby. Caregivers are the safest option if you want to remain inside your home and offers a lot of flexibility around your and your family’s schedule. On the other hand, senior housing includes any type of housing arrangement designed specifically for older adults.
In the United States, much of the elderly care is done in an aging-in-place setting. Adult children and other relatives provide care free of charge. Some families choose to do everything on their own and split the duties to ease the workload, while others prefer defraying the bills to cover the cost for home care services. Although it’s usually more affordable than opting for a full-fledged senior housing option, some family members often do it at a significant burden to themselves in terms of physical stress and emotional exhaustion.
Despite receiving care at home, mind you, sometimes hiring a paid caregiver is just inevitable due to various reasons. The fees for caregivers vary widely depending on their experience and locations. At Champion Care we keep costs as low as possible and we offer caregivers starting at 20.00 dollars per hour.
Senior housing comes in three major types, including:
Adult Day Health Care: aimed at older adults who need little to no assistance with their daily activities. Think of it as a retirement community where the residents enjoy activity options and socialization with peers.
Assisted Living: a residential option for older adults who require little help with some of their daily activities, such as preparing meals and getting to the bathroom at night. Assisted living facilities offer 24-hour access to care and support, as well as safety and security. They provide good privacy, and encourage you to do what you can for yourself.
Nursing Home: if what you need is custodial care, including but not limited to bathing, dressing, feeding, getting in and out of bed, and round-the-clock medical management, you might want to consider living in a nursing home. Care for each resident is performed under the supervision of a licensed physician. In case you undergo some kind of medical emergency, there are always nurses and other healthcare professionals on the premises. Nursing homes are specifically aimed at older adults who need a high level of care. You have easy access to therapies, rehabilitation, medication, and any sort of personal care assistance.
According to Genworth, a company that provides long-term care insurance, the median monthly cost of a semi-private room (where the sleeping area is shared by two residents, often unrelated) is around $8,900, which amounts to more than $108,600 annually. Private room is more expensive, reaching $10,000 per month.
Medicaid does, in one form or another, pay for the complete cost of nursing home care in all 50 states, as long as the person receiving the benefits qualifies for it. To be eligible, the person must: 1) require nursing home care level and 2) have extremely limited financial assets and very low income. Medicare does not provide coverage for long-term care, but still covers the cost for medical care whether the person is in an aging-in-place setting or an assisted living situation.
If the elderly person is eligible for VA benefits, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs might be of financial help. That said, the current best option is private insurance, which offers a comprehensive long-term care policy to cover both in-home skilled nursing care and custodial care. As with any private insurance, the annual premium can be cost prohibitive for most people.
Elderly care is admittedly not as affordable as everybody wants it to be. Therefore, it’s always best to plan ahead for the day when you might need one. Not only does it ensure that the older adults in the family get all the care they need, but also prevent any misunderstanding among family members about who actually is responsible for what. It’s a good thing that you have plenty of public and private sources of help, so be sure to look around for those.