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Navigating long-term care costs for aging parents: A family’s journey and advice

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HiFi: Navigating long-term care costs for aging parents: A family’s journey and advice

Dawn Crump has a better understanding than most of how to navigate a complicated financial document. But the healthcare finance professional’s work experience wasn’t much help when it came time to seek care for her aging mother.

“We went from her living independently and us checking on her and going to appointments with her, becoming her power of attorney so we could help make financial decisions early on…[to] now, we’ve moved into a memory care situation,” she said. “We have exhausted all of her retirement funds, all of her savings.”

According to the U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services, nearly half of men and 64% of women reaching age 65 today will eventually need significant long-term care, with about 14% of those requiring that care for more than two years. Crump says the monthly cost for her mother’s care is more than she ever made in her nursing career.

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Crump said she’s had to educate several family members on long-term care costs and the fact that they aren’t covered by Medicare.

“Medicare can provide great coverage for your overall care, but what it doesn’t cover is long term care, in most situations,” Crump said.

Today, Crump is working on a Medicaid application on behalf of her mother and offered the following advice for people in her family’s situation.

“Get all the paperwork you think you need together — life insurance. annuities, retirement information, Social Security information” she said. “All of that is daunting itself and can take literally months to get everything compiled.”

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Discussing a parent’s eventual and inevitable loss of independence could be uncomfortable, but having those conversations early could help, Crump said.

“If you have parents who are open minded … and can have those really hard conversations, then have them sooner rather than later — when they’re retiring, even,” she said.

There are several organizations out there with resources for seniors and their loved ones. AARP is one, and Medicare.gov and Medicaid.gov are vital resources.

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