When you are looking ahead toward your retirement years, the first segment will be the period of time that they called the golden years. You may look forward to travel, leisure activities, and quality time with your family. This is an important stage of life that can be extremely enjoyable, so you should plan ahead from a financial perspective so that you can make the most of it.
Retirement planning should also extend to the twilight years that will follow your active retirement years. A significant percentage of people become unable to handle all of their own activities of daily living. Long-term care is very expensive, and Medicare does not pay for custodial care.
Medi-Cal is the solution for most of the seniors in the United States. In the state of California, the program is called Medi-Cal. This program will pay for long-term care, but you must be able to meet income and asset requirements, because it is a need-based program.
Medi-Cal Waiver Program
The income and asset limits are rather stringent for Medi-Cal eligibility, but people typically become eligible through a process called a Medi-Cal spend down. You could simply give assets to your children so that you have very little left in your own name when you apply for Medi-Cal coverage.
When you think about long-term care, you may conjure a mental image of nursing homes and assisted living communities. As we touched upon previously, these facilities are very pricey. According to a Genworth Financial study, the median cost for a year in a private room in a nursing home in California is over $104,000.
A lot of money could potentially be saved if you were to get the care that you need at home. This is part of the appeal, but many people would prefer to stay at home for other reasons.
The familiarity can be comforting, especially if you have lost loved ones along the way. You can maintain relationships with your neighbors, and you don’t have to take on a whole new set of circumstances.
There is a program in place called the Home and Community-Based Services waiver program that will pay for in-home care.
This program is funded by Medi-Cal, and it is called a waiver program because the strict Medi-Cal resource limits are waived. The eligibility requirements are much less stringent.
The Medi-Cal waiver program can provide the ideal solution for seniors who need living assistance who would like to remain a home for one reason or another.
Medi-Cal Planning Consultation
Our practice places an emphasis on elder care issues. We have two excellent geriatric care managers on staff, and we can answer all of your questions about Medi-Cal planning.
If you would like to set up a free consultation, contact us through this link and we will promptly get back in touch: San Jose CA Medi-Cal Planning.
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