Dos and Don’ts of investing in a home care

During the paying for care homes, there are many emotional, psychological and financial stresses that one goes through. Especially in today’s world which has so many agents hovering over the applicants trying to convince in buying their investment schemes, it becomes quite a tricky task to select one. 

Do:

• Ensure that the policy is inclusive of a clear statement which comprises of all the facilities of inside the home for your loved ones.

• Before paying for care home fees, make a list of all the charges and additional costs for items that are not included in the daily list provided by the home care.

• Include the notice of the right to apply for Medicare and the right to make an appeal for those decisions.

• Ensure that the care home’s ‘behold policy’ is in constant accordance with the Medicare requirements.

• Ensure that the requirements are such that the policy holder has to leave the care home only when the condition and the health are better and the nursing care is no more required.

• While paying for care homes, make sure that the decisions like how will the person shifted to another room are included in the policy.

• Let your attorney have a complete look at the agreement and all the terms and conditions before you or the policy holder signs it.

Don’ts:

• Never sign the agreement as a guarantor or a responsible party, especially if you do not intend to pay for the resident’s care.

• Don’t agree to pay for the limitation on the liability of the home or any of the resident’s personal property.

• Before paying for the care home fees, be sure never to include a clause according to which the resident has to deposit all the income directly into the account of the home care.

• Do not agree with the policy which says private pay status or other upfront money if the policy holder is resident.

• Never let the policy have any clause that can restrict any visiting hours.

• Including a provision that requires the applicant to consent to various medical procedures such as having a living will, or the health care power of the lawyer.

Keep these simple yet effective tips in mind, and you are set to go. Now that you know what and how to make the selection of an ideal investment plan and how to pay in a care home, good luck with the same!

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Questions to ask before going for the long term care

The decision to send your loved ones in the long term care is not a small thing and should be handled with care. There are a number of things to be considered from the variety of options available. You should never purchase any policy without being informed about it otherwise it can prove to be quite a costly affair. Before you finalise on any scheme or investment plan, make sure you follow these simple guidelines:

• Look for all the available options around you. Very extensively. Talk to different companies and compare the benefits and services that are included in their facilities. Never go for a policy simply because it is least expensive, you should cover all the coverage carefully. Ask all the agents to explain all the policies in detail and an outline summary of all the plans. Don’t fall under the trap of agents who say that a particular offer is only for one time.

• Make sure whatever you have been told is also present in writing. The policy and the terms and conditions should cover all the instructions and minor details.

• If there is something that you do not understand by the policy, feel free to ask the agents right away. Continue asking till the time you do not understand it completely.

• Does the long term care advice have inflation protection? How is the protection calculated? It should be calculated by the compound interest method and not simple interest.

• Does the long term care policy include death benefits and other non forfeiture benefits? They are nice to have.  

• Who gets to decide when will you be eligible to the benefits? All companies have different strategies to pay the benefits. For instance a doctor’s order, others include the abilities of the policy holder like bathing, changing, feeding themselves.

• Will the policy examine the mental functions when deciding the eligibility?

• Does the policy in order to fulfil its requirements, a ‘one on one continual assistance’

• Have you replied to all the medical questions put forward to you genuinely? Some companies even ask a statement from your doctor regarding your medical condition, so that the company is sure that you are a good risk! This is one of the best long term care advices possible.  Irrespective of what your agent says, you should always disclose all your medical history honestly. If you do not remember all the details, refer to the doctor and take down any points that you might be forgetting.

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Nursing Homes: What is the Reality?

A nursing home is probably one of the most ideal places apart from the hospitals where the elderly can be taken care of. Staying in a nursing home is inclusive of a custodial care along with getting in and out of the bed and getting assistance with feeding, bathing, dressing etc. Apart from all this a nursing home differs from a simple care centre as it also provides a high level of medical attention. It is generally supervised by an expert physician and skilled nurses and other medical professionals are present on the campus 24 X 7. It makes the deliveries of medical therapies and other procedures easy- all which is not possible in a simple housing cares.

Taking a long term care advice for your elderly family member is also a good idea. There are various consultants and professionals that provide the best of knowledge about care fee annuities.

The name ‘nursing home’ has many myths associated with it, like nursing home fees.

• Myth 1: If I am unable to take my own care at the home, staying at a nursing home is the only option available.

With the increase of technology, there are many ways by which you can very well stay at home. These help may constitute of help in shopping, laundry and visits form the health care centres etc. If needs be, and the custodial care is more of a requirement, assisted living and many such options are also available.

• Myth 2: Nursing homes are for those whose family doesn’t love them anymore.

In today’s world of smaller families, taking care of people with a chronic illness can become tricky at times. It might sound unfortunate, but it’s the reality of times. If you cannot take care of the elders in your homes with the required responsibility the idea of a nursing home is a good one. Get an appropriate Long term care advice to have the perfect suggestions that suit your requirements.  Thinking about a nursing home in no way means you don’t care for your family. It only means you are more responsible to understand that the elders in your family need better and adequate attention; medical or otherwise.

• Myth 3: Nursing homes have awful facilities.

It is not true that all nursing homes are badly run. After a bit of research, you should be able to locate the best option in your area that has the most economical nursing home fees.

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Why should you go for Long term care plans?

Making early preparations for a long-term care and similar decisions have been a matter of heavy discussions for all families since many years now. And if the past is to be taken into account, this is here to stay in attention for a very longer duration. One of the common solutions to this is having long term care annuities that will let you have a peaceful and a content mind in the later years of your life. 

With recent advancements in the insurance sector, many new financial vehicles have come across for the benefit of those who are in need. Paying for care homes becomes quite easy when you have a plan for future. There is quite new and an alternative method that is evolving with its own pace. You must think of talking to your financial expert about this option and getting a complete know-how of how this scheme can work best for your benefit and help you save more sum of money for yourself. 

It is the most effective plan of action that is very nicely applicable in today’s times. Looking at it from the financial point of view, long term care solutions let your retirement plans and your savings stay as it is till the end. It protects your home, your belongings, your health and most importantly, your income. The only thing that needs to be taken care of is that you should select the plan which fits to your requirements and needs and can be used flexible at times depending on the situations. Any badly thought of plan and investing in it is worse than having no plan at all! 

It is therefore recommended that you choose your long term care specialist carefully and very critically. Consider their education qualification, experience, and professional background. One of the ways to identify whether he is a genuine professional is to check what he is interested in talking about. If he talks about the products and the paying for care homes first, he is not a professional. If he shows interest in your needs and tells plans and schemes accordingly, he is an experienced a professional. 

Here are some key characteristics of long term care annuities:

• They provide you with a tax efficient method of paying for long term care and a certain kind of safety against early capital depletion.
• The annuity provider pays the fixed tax-free amount directly to your care provider.
• Once it is fixed, the payments will continue till the end of your life. It gives you one thing less to worry about for your entire lifetime. You can depend on one guaranteed payment.
• Such long term care plans are designed to cater to your needs when there is an emergency requirement at home or at the care centre.

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Benefits of getting advice for long term care payment

Have you heard about the long term care annuities? Do you want to know about paying for the long term care? Do you want some professional guidance? If the answer to even any one of the questions that are asked above is positive, you are probably at the perfect place.

This one is going to be interesting for you as it gives you the benefits of taking advice for long term care payment. It is quite obvious that you will be already worried and emotional about putting your parents into the care home. So, you might need some help which will make sure that you are doing the right thing and paying right too.

Paying for care homes is not as easy as you are thinking. It involves a lot of points to be considered which you can’t do it on your own.  There are a lot of reasons you might need to hire a care fees advice company.

There is a long list of benefits of getting guidance from the professionals for paying for care homes. Out of so many benefits, let us have a look at some of the most important advantages. Here we go...

• The professional who will be advising you is doing the same since several years. The specialist has become the expert now in doing that. Many families are benefitted from that and you can join in the list of those families. So, it is risk free to listen to them and follow their counsel.

• They will also help you with payment. They will give you a lot of options out of which you can choose the one which is the most comfortable for you and the one which lets you pay with ease.

• They will also assist you in making a payment plan so that you can pay the care fees for your parents effortlessly.

• They will give you ideas on how to get the best return on investment and how to save money in spite of spending so much in fees.

Now that you know the benefits of the long term care payment, it is advisable for you to hire the best company that provides the advice on care.

With the increase in demand, the number of companies providing guidance on care fees has increased to the large extent. There are a lot of companies that provide advice on long term care annuities and payment, so it will be difficult for you to choose the best one. It is advisable to do a lot of research and choose the one that provides the best services in the least cost. Good luck with that!

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A guide to care fees annuities

Have you ever wondered the reason of being asked by the people to arrange for the care fees annuities? Do you want to know what exactly is it and how important is it? Do you want to know what is it all about and need some care fees advice? Well, if you answered ‘yes’ to any of these question being asked above, this is going to be interesting for you.

The care fees annuities is all about giving you the choice, ensuring the quality and limiting the cost of the nursing home fees. Basically, provide this care fees annuity means that, the specialist insurers provides you the guaranteed tax free income if you are ready to pay the single premium outset. 

This will ensure your fees will be met for the lifetime.

The reason behind getting it tax free is that, the insurer pays the fees directly to the nursing home in which your loved one is registered, and not to you. So, it is not considered as your income in your tax return. So, there are no issues even if you change your nursing home. The insurer will pay it directly to your new nursing home.

The long term care annuities are important. If you happen to keep your loved one into a nursing home, paying yourself for the nursing homes; the accommodation as well as services from your salary and savings as you go is one of the toughest things to do in your life. There might be a situation where in you need to sell your house and start staying in nursing home yourself if you do not take the help. So, it is always advisable to go for the long term care annuities. This is exactly why the people with power of attorney keep asking you to arrange for it.

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Assessment process of the NHS continuing care

The decision for the stay of your loved homes in the nursing home is difficult. It is an touching situation where people get emotional; and also the finance is a major issue. Paying for care homes is not so easy; it requires a lot of time and effort to manage the fees.

How peaceful your mind will be if you do not have to worry about paying for care home fees! Oh yes, it is possible with the help of the NHS continuing care, an organisation that provides free health services to the patients suffering from mental illness or physical disability.

However, everyone is not straight away eligible for the NHS services. One has to undergo through an assessment carried out by the Primary Care Trust (PCT). On the basis of the results of both the assessments; the preliminary one and the decision support tool one, they will decide if you have qualified to receive the free NHS continuous care or not.

The preliminary NHS continuing Health Care checklist and the decision support tool has got 12 factors which they take into the consideration for the assessment. They rate all the 12 domains as any of these:

• Low (L)
• Moderate (M)
• High (H)
• Severe (S)

The few of these factors are also rated as:

• Priority (P)

Let us have a look at the list of these domains:

• Behaviour
• Cognition
• Breathing
• Drug therapies and medication: Symptom control
• Altered states of consciousness
• Communication
• Continence
• Psychological and emotional needs
• Mobility
• Nutrition: Food and Drink
• Skin and tissue liability
• Other significant care needs

Out of the above listed factors, all of them can be rated as L, M, H or S and the first five can be rated ‘P’ as well. On the basis of these results, they check if the patient meets the standards, exceeds them or do not meet the standards at all. 

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