Tag: dementia long term care

How to Get LTC Reinstated

The request started simple enough … “Kay, I’m overwhelmed at work, and trying to navigate my mother’s long-term care insurance claims is exhausting. Can you help?”

I hear this a lot. The promise that LTC Insurance will help cover medical expenses is very true and real. The act of starting claims, navigating billing, understanding denials, and advocating for what you are owed is often overwhelming for caregivers and incredibly convoluted.

LTC Insurance can help pay for years of care services.

To be fair, I do have several clients where the LTC plans work well, and there are only minor matters to chase. I even have a few that have reaped hundreds of thousands to pay for their care. Most of these plans were purchased decades ago and most were Federal Employees.

In this most recent case, the adult family caregiver was totally frustrated. The company had told them that they didn’t need to pay the annual fee any longer because they activated the claim and was receiving services for home care after being diagnosed with dementia. Most policies stop billing you for the insurance policy once you activate the claim. Then, a year later, they receive a bill for over $7,000 because the LTC Insurance company mistakenly waived the annual fee. Then they stopped paying the claims and sent a policy cancellation notice within a month of the notice receipt.

All of this happened before I got engaged.

When I called to ask about reinstatement, the LTC Insurance company said they could not reinstate the benefits because it had been 60-days since the cancellation notice was sent.

When I took the assignment, I read the policy and in it found a “Reinstatement Clause” that said if the individual was diagnosed with a cognitive issue they had up to 9 months to reinstate the policy. I mentioned this and was told they would “check with the manager” only to have them return to say there was no option around the 60-day period. I directed the agent to open the policy and read this clause — and all of a sudden I was given the steps we needed to take to have them review the request.

One week later, my client is told the policy is reinstated and now has hundreds of thousands of dollars available to help pay for mom’s care. Pleased!

If you are the one working to initiate the claim or navigate the claims process, be sure to read the policy. If you need help, there are many daily money managers like me that can help you. To find one near you, visit www.AADMM.com.

Some key things for claims processing may include:

  • Medical forms signed by their doctor listing a diagnosis and care needs. These typically have to be done every 4 to 6 months.
  • Invoices, caregiver notes, and a license from the Home Care Agency. If you use a family caregiver there are other hurdles to traverse and often they reimburse non-agency caregivers for fewer hours. Typically you will want to do an “Assignment of Benefits” to allow the Home Care Agency to submit the claims and get paid directly. You will however be responsible for any fees not covered and should understand this WHEN you are starting services so you are not surprised with a huge invoice.
  • A policy in good standing. It must be paid up to date. Most plans waive annual fees once you start your LTC claim.

Moving into a Care Community that Matches Your Current Need

The move discussion is difficult for many couples and families. I did a three-part series on the topic to help provide a quick overview into some of the key learnings I have discovered. Here are the first two:
1) The Angsty Discussion About Moving: Life Care Communities
2) Moving Choices: Aging in Place – Part 2 of 3
and today is a final consideration on planning.

I do recommend you consider hiring a local Aging Life Care Manager to help navigate these choices and the current community options near you or your loved ones. I worked with one to help with my Mom and have seen them help with this discussion and process over and over with many clients.

The One Client Story That Illustrates How This Can Work

I started to work with Marge when she was living in her home. She had missed some bills, overpaid others, and was giving out her credit card number over the phone to charities daily.

After a year, it was time that she moved into an Assisted Living Community because living at home was just no longer a safe choice at 89. The new community was a combination of Assisted Living and Memory Care residents. She initially moved into an Assisted Living apartment but after about a month would wake up in the middle of the night and wander the halls in her nightgown worrying and sometimes tried to leave. They moved her into the Memory Care community so she would have more support and she would be in a secure section of the building. However it was hard for her to get integrated into a group of women and eventually she managed to actually break out. The community was just no longer a good fit so the Aging Life Care Managers searched for a better fit.

In addition to not really finding companionship with other residents, Marge had to pay for additional personal care assistance. Her monhtly community fees with the extra staff support now rang in at over $20,000 a month.

Six months ago she moved into a residential setting. She lives in a home with 5 other women with moderate stages of dementia and it’s a great fit for her needs. While this was not the right place for her initially, it is right now given how her dementia has progressed and the type of personal care that is best for her.

There is an Aging Life Care Manager who has been helping the family along the way, and while everyone thought the first community move was a great choice – and it was a great fit for a while – eventually it just wasn’t the right place for her needs.

Now at 93, we hope that she has made her last move. However, considering a move to a better fit is still an option and if she ever needed Skilled Nursing care. Her new community is now a third of the cost and she has found a loving group of residents and caregivers that are helping her find some happiness daily. It is the ideal fit for her right now.

I’m in the metro-DC area and we now of dozens of choices. I’m amazed at how many communities are still arriving.

Please know that you will make the best choice you can with the information you have at the time you need to make a decision. It will be easy to look in the rearview mirror and second guess choices made. I hope this has given you some insight into how to look at living options if you have loved ones living with dementia. Hoped.

Moving Choices: Aging in Place – Part 2 of 3

The first in the series The Angsty Discussion About Moving: Life Care Communities is a general overview of of how they are structured, the reality of the choice, and some things to know and consider if you are looking into this option.

“I’m not gonna nove and you can’t make me.”

Now it is time to share some of the common issues and themes I see when a spouse is working to stay in the home with their loved one who needs more care as well as when adult children are helping a parent live at home alone.

In the beginning, it can be less expensive to layer in the care to support staying in their home. However, especially for a spousal caregiver, the care needs and isolation can become overwhelming in addition to the drain it takes on the health of the caregiver. According to the Family Caregiving Alliance, spousal caregivers ages 69 to 96 have a 63 percent higher mortality rate than noncaregivers in the same age group.

Often, the individual living with dementia doesn’t understand why their spouse is hiring outside help. Many living with dementia cannot recognize the necessity that someone help them through their day or the need for their spouse to be off the clock. The caregiving spouse starts to lose their outside connections and support in addition to skipping their own medical appointments and care needs.

Even though the couple is together, I am seeing that they both begin to feel isolated. The loss of a partner can also be more devestating since their partner might be their only engaging social connection. I saw this with my parents.

For those that choose to stay in their homes either with or without a spouse, there are engaging adult day programs for the individual with dementia. Isolation can actually lead to a faster cognitive decline and studies have likened the health risk to smoking a pack of cigarettes a day.

Generally, I see many couples and individuals supported by an adult child living at home alone resist outside support. Unfortunately, about half the time a critical incident occurs and blows up this option and a scramble to employ support occurs. If no prior plans are made, the available options are usually not the best fit. A little support layered in early can be an ounce of prevention and provide more options should care suddenly be needed after an event.

Living at home can also end if an individual living with dementia starts to wander or becomes combative.

The successful couples and families managing a loved one living at home have been able to integrate supports for daily engagement through personal care assistants or the use of an adult day program for the individual with dementia. I know how challenging it can be to start so just ask them to try it out for a few hours and days. Forced changes usually are met with solid resistance.

As a security measure, individuals and families that plan ahead have also selected at least one community that might be a fit if they need to make a change and gotten on the wait list. You can always decline the space when it becomes available but remain in the queue.

PROS:
– Familiarity in the home environment can help someone living with dementia stay independent longer since they have long-term patterns established.
– Expense. If you only need some part-time support or help, or even sign up for an adult day program, the total cost of living is less expensive.
– The individual with dementia wants to stay in their home.

CONS:
– Isolation impacts health and cognitive function in negatives ways. Even introverts (like me) will benefit from social engagement.
– Spousal caregivers have an increased risk of death.
– When something happens, there is no quick solution to provide support (unless you have already planned ahead or gotten on a wait list at a local community).
– Moving after dementia has been diagnosed usually means that learning new things will be more difficult. It can be tougher to make friends and engage within a new community.
– Expense. There is a tipping point when bringing all the services to you can be more expensive.

RECOMMENDATION:
– Make a plan for social engagement and find ways to make it happen. Call your county Area Agency on Aging to find out what resources in your community are availble to help.

There is no right or wrong choice when it comes to choosing the best option for your loved one and their primary caregiver — Just the best option for them and the caregivers when you need to make a choice. Advised.

Up Next, Moving As Needed …

The Angsty Discussion About Moving: Life Care Communities

The discussion about if to move, when to move and where to move is an inevitable topic if you are caring for loved ones with dementia. Most people want to “age in place” and view a move as a huge negative … initially. However, there are many times when moving is better for the individual living with dementia as well as their caregiver — especially for a spousal caregiver.

What I have seen playing out with my family, friends and their families, and clients is that the “move” that created so much angst and difficulty is generally not the last move.

My hope is that knowing that may help you discuss what is really just the best move to make for now.

I’m going to walk through some scenarios in hopes that it will help you and your family make better informed decisions about caring for a loved one. There are no wrong or right choices … just the best choice for your loved ones RIGHT NOW.

Buying Into a Life Care Community

My parents bought into a “Life Care Community” and handed over nearly a half a million so they would “never be a burden to their children.” The Life Care Community model typically offers Independent Living, Assisted Living, Memory Care, and Skilled Nursing options all on the same campus. The idea is that you moved through the system as needed.

The community helps with the activities of daily living (eating, bathing, walking, dressing …) but they do not help pay bills, manage lifestyle desires, cater to medical choices and preferences, or act as personal advocates. Because my parent’s had the belief that moving in meant their adult children would never need to be involved, caring for them was actually harder than it should have been.

At one point the community asked us to petition for guardianship because my parent’s were a danger to themselves and others. We refused and worked hard to manage through their needs while allowing them to retain their personal dignity.

My parent’s were eventually forced out of Independent Living and had to either move into Assisted Living or move out of the community. The smaller apartment and proximity in the community to the action was a big bonus and my parent’s were actually happier than I had seen them in years.

After Dad died my Mom struggled. In this community, the section for Memory Care only had people in very late stages of dementia. My Mom was always moving and needed a community that would give her space indoors and out to move. We moved Mom out of the community they bought into and oddly enough actually paid less monthly for a better care model for her needs.

The good news is that the “buy in” model is fading away. However, before you plop down a stack of money know that the community may not be the right fit for your loved one as their care needs change. In many communities, Assisted Living is filled with many individuals who have mild to moderate dementia. I watched as those that just needed help with dressing and bathing avoided my Mom who couldn’t remember their names or hold a meaningful conversation any longer. For a variety of reasons, the next level of care needs for your loved one may just not be a strength of the community care offered in a Life Care Community.

There are a lot of positives for these communities. Make sure you met with your Financial Advisor or run through the numbers if you can choose to either “buy in” or just pay a monthly rent. The unknown is if an when you may need to leave the community you are moving into. I know it’s a horrible wrench to throw into this difficult decision… but it is a very likely scenario that should be considered before a large financial investment is made.

PROS:
– Integrate and build friendships in Independent Living and have a place and connection for the rest of your life
– Some communities are now letting you move into your apartment and bring the varied level of care to you versus having to move through the different communities.

CONS:
– Have to move when your care needs change and the community doesn’t have the best fit for your needs.
– Expensive. Many now don’t require a lump sum payment. In our area we have a lot more choice and now they have different models for payment.
– It’s often hard to make new friends when you move into an established community.

RECOMENDATION: Ask if the community has a trial period so you can move in and see if it is truly the right fit for you now and can serve needs into the future.

I hope this helps you and your family as you are starting to have these discussions. Witnessed.

Up next, Aging in Place …

Tour the Local Adult Communities – #21

50plusadults

In my role as a caregiver, I learned that my own community had very few aging life care, memory, or assisted living communities. I toured all three at the time to understand what they had to offer. I learned that the one we liked the most had a really long wait list.

Now that I work with older adults and their families, I have seen that most of my clients are only moving in AFTER there is a critical incident. Sadly, that limits the choices since many of the best communities have long wait lists.

When I start to work with an individual and family because they need help with the day-to-day bill pay, medical care or home upkeep, I always suggest they tour and select one. You can get on a wait list and you never have to move in, but should something happen, YOU or YOUR LOVED one got to choose the place.

For many communities, the individuals on the wait list have the ability to use the community for any short-term rehabilitation or skilled nursing needs.

It is reported that one in three working Americans will become disabled for 90 days or more before age 65 (TMA) and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services reported that at 65, 7 out of 10 American’s will need long-term care services. That information means that most of us are going to need some help and what we do know gives us more control over future events.

You may find a local 50+ community in the area that might be better suited your lifestyle. There are now a lot of choices you can make for living well.

You have probably received a postcard inviting you to a local community or heard about a nearby senior fair. It’s worth an hour of your time to get familiar with the resources for when someone needs them. Suggested.

How often is a Doctor Available?

As the primary family care partner for my Mom, I was often taking her to a variety of medical appointments. While both of the communities she lived in had visiting doctors, they usually were unable to see her in a timely manner or did not have the type of expertise needed. For instance, after a fall sent my mom to the Emergency Room with a goose egg sized lump on her forehead, we were told we would need to schedule a visit to an Ear/Nose/Throat specialist. For that we needed to travel to a local provider.

A story in The New York Times, Where There’s Rarely a Doctor in the House: Assisted Living, dove into this topic and it is worth reading if you are in the process of looking at a community.

Getting to medical care can be both a time and monetary issue to manage for loved ones that are not addressed by many Assisted Living Communities.

The current communities are having to adapt to the changing demographics and health issues. Most of the Life Care Communities planned on having their residents span a few decades and start moving in when they were in their 60s.

Today, the average resident is over 85 and 70 percent of them have some form of cognitive issue. The community did not plan for their residents being unable to manage their own medical care needs due to cognitive issues. On top of that, there is a cost to get the resident to a doctor in both terms of staff time and transportation. In the metro-DC area, a trip to the doctor for just the transportation averages $110 and this is for individuals who can walk.

When you are visiting, be sure to ask how they deal with the minor health issues like a cold or flu. Do they have regular visits by a doctor and how often? What types of doctors visit? Most communities are going to be unable to handle these issues but it’s better to know before you have an issue than learn about the advocacy and transportation needs after you have made the move. While you may still need to leave to get to a specialist, it is helpful to know they have a robust option for on-site medical care for many of the minor issues that may faced a loved one. Advised.

P.S. Ask to speak with the families of other residents and ask them to share how they have found the doctor. One reader reminded me that you may need to verify what the community sales person tells you.