Long Term Care Costs

It comes like clockwork every Fall. As anyone over age 65 knows, we are now at the beginning of Open Enrollment season for Medicare. As we’ve noted in prior agebuzz posts, this is the time of year (from Oct. 15th – December 7th) that Medicare enrollees have the opportunity to…

The deadly impact of the coronavirus, especially among long term care residents, has certainly highlighted a fact of life that many of us would like to deny or avoid: that is, the difficult decision to have a loved one or even yourself live in such a facility. Infection control measures…

While no one can predict exactly what lies ahead, those in the know are using demographic data and trends to paint a rather worrisome picture for the next decade as the number of older adults rises both in the US and across the globe. According to demographer Dudley Poston, the…

Anyone who’s had exposure to long term care knows the costs can add up quickly. Before you realize it, there can be hundreds of dollars a week going out the door to pay for all sorts of items not covered by Medicare, including companion services or help with such daily…

The data suggest that few of us will escape the problem: It seems that more than ⅓ of us will spend time in a nursing home at some point in our lives, and 4 out of 10 will likely need paid help in order to remain at home in the…

While few people look forward to living in a nursing home, these facilities have nonetheless played an essential role in the spectrum of long-term care options for seniors in our country. For many older people, the severity of their physical health or the lack of family support means they need…