Charlie Robinson's Blog

FLORIDA NURSING HOME CARE COSTS JUMP AGAIN

You've noticed it at the grocery checkout and at the gas station, but did you realize how much nursing home costs have gone up? Probably not unless you have a loved one in a nursing home. According to Genworth Financial at www.genworth.com, here are the Florida State Median Annual Care Costs in 2012: Nursing home costs between $78,475 and $84,552 a year. Assisted living apartment could be as much as $33,000. If you choose to stay at home (and can afford it), you may pay from $38,896 to $41,184 annually for aides and services. If you apply for Medicaid, our state government has recognized how expenses have gone up by increasing the average monthly private pay nursing facility rate from $5000 to $6880 per month in February 2012 under the Florida Administrative Code. You could transfer or gift $6880 and face only one month penalty. A certified Elder Law attorney can help you put in place a life plan that will make full use of current regulations and laws. This is not something you want to put off until crisis hits.

 

ELDER MEDIATION

THE GREAT GENERATION DIVIDE

Bringing together two or three generations to come to a satisfactory and viable plan for eighty-year-old parents is no easy task. Certainly it is not an easy task for many family members each having their own agenda and no one strong enough to arbitrate. Perhaps one sophisticated son or
daughter will acknowledge that they need a mediator, and seek out an Elder and Adult Family Mediator for help.

Conceding that all the sons and daughters want the best care for their parents, the solutions to promoting such quality of life are diverse. Finding the one or two best ideas from among the possibilities suggested by the family takes the expertise of the mediator. But first, the mediator will seek to fully understand the values, the ambitions, the fears and concerns of each party.
Finding common interests among the parties in a safe environment where everyone has their say will lead the way to options that take into account some of those commonalities. Then they can brainstorm the options, considering, evaluating, prioritizing until one plan becomes clear to all present.

Many times these differences are battled out in court, where there is always a “winner” and a “loser”. In mediation, you are most likely to have a win-win solution.

As a Court Certified Mediator, I will discuss how elder mediation works in future posts.

WHY DO YOU NEED LONG TERM PLANNING?

One of the core services my office provides is long term care planning. Often families do not understand what is meant by a “long term care plan”. They have their Will and maybe Trust and their Living Will, Health Care Surrogate and Durable Family Power of Attorney. They have their retirement savings, bank accounts, properties, perhaps their stocks and bonds. They believe they have done all the “planning” necessary. What they are missing is a viable plan to take care of them in the event of incapacitation such as a chronic illness, stroke, ALS, Parkinson’s, or Alzheimer’s disease. We all like to believe ‘this won’t ever happen to me.’ But the fact remains, the very real danger is out there, as the following survey shows:

The original content of the following article is from the Alzheimer's Reading Room http://www.alzheimersreadingroom.com.

The MetLife Foundation Alzheimer’s Survey “What America Thinks,” conducted by Harris Interactive, found that most people are not preparing for the strong possibility that they or their family members will develop Alzheimer’s, despite significant fear of the disease. When asked which of five major diseases they fear most, Alzheimer’s disease was second (31%) behind cancer (41%), but far ahead of heart disease (8%), stroke (8%) and diabetes (6%). The survey was conducted by telephone with 1,007 adults in September 2010; it follows similar research from 2006, the year of the 20th MetLife Foundation awards presentation.

The current study found:

• 44 percent of adults have family members or friends with Alzheimer’s disease.
• Nearly a quarter (23%) of adults are extremely or very concerned that they may someday provide care for a loved one with Alzheimer’s, an increase from 18% in 2006.
• Only 18 percent of adults say they have made any plans for the possibility of getting Alzheimer’s disease, compared to 12 percent in 2006. Fewer than half of all adults claim to have talked to their families about Alzheimer’s disease (41%).
• Thirty-three percent have considered what care options would be available to them in the event of AD; 44 percent have designated who would take care of them. Slightly more than one in five (21%) adults claims to have made any financial arrangement for the possibility of AD onset.

Call my office for more information on long term care planning.

See my website: www.charlie-robinson.com.

LONG TERM CARE PLANNING

MOST AMERICANS DON'T PREPARE FOR LONG TERM CARE PLANNING, SURVEY SAYS.

Nearly eight out of ten Americans acknowledge the increasing need for long term care (LTC) planning, yet nearly half (45%) aren't sure how they will address future LTC needs, according to a study released by Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company.

The study also found that almost two-thirds of people believe the cost of providing LTC services will rise faster than the return on their savings, and that slightly over half believe that long term care costs will double in the next 14 years. Yet, less than one-third are currently saving for future LTC needs.

"There is a clear disconnect between what Americans understand about long term care needs and the steps they've taken to prepare," said Steve Sperka, Northwestern Mutual vice president of long term care. "In order to create flexibility and options in retirement, people need to address long term care risk as part of financial security planning."

Northwestern Mutual's survey was conducted online by Harris Interactive from October 11-13, 2011, and comprised 2,194 American adults ages 18 and older. According to the survey, an estimated 27% of women report that they have been a caregiver compared to 22% of men. Additionally, two-thirds of women polled said that they're more likely to report that the physical demand of caregiving is their biggest challenge versus less than 50% of men. Compounding the issue is the fact that women, on average, live five years longer than men, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control. Despite this fact, the study showed that fewer women are saving for their future needs (24% for women vs. 32% for men).

"There is no doubt that long term care is a pronounced issue for women, who tend to live longer and are more likely to provide care during their lives," Sperka added. "This just amplifies the importance of planning for women, in order to maintain control over their finances and lifestyle through retirement."

See my website www.charlie-robinson.com for more information on long term care planning.