To evaluate the finances available for a nursing home, you will
need to list all the assets of your care recipient. Include Social
Security, retirement plans, investments, income from any source and
real property which might be sold to increase liquid assets. If
other family members are willing to contribute a certain amount,
note that as well. Unfortunately, due to the expense of long-term
nursing care, quite often a care recipient’s assets will not
be adequate for the entire period that he or she will be
institutionalized. Once nursing home bills exceed a resident’s
monthly income, if there are little or no savings, Medical
Assistance (also known as Medicaid) may become available. There are
a complicated set of rules that trigger this state-run assistance
program and, as with Medicare, your care recipient must be in a
Medicaid approved facility.
Tips From Those Who Have Been There
If you can afford it, Ted Masters recommends using a nursing
home for short term stays for your care recipient during your
respite breaks. “We tried two different nursing homes on a
short term basis while I was traveling,” he recalls. “The
first one wasn’t satisfactory, but my wife felt very at home
in the second one, and we used it numerous times over the years.
When the time came that she had to go to a home permanently we
chose that particular facility. The familiarity made a painful
period easier.” Masters also followed the advice of his
wife’s doctor and sought counseling after her
institutionalization. “I saw a psychiatrist for about seven
months afterward. It helped me immensely and I’m not sure I
would have thought to do it if Ellen’s doctor hadn’t
suggested it. It made a big difference in coping with the loss I
felt.”
Pam Oetgen, a licensed clinical social worker in Fort
Washington, Maryland adds a word of caution about selecting a home
for a younger person whose disability may be more physical than
mental. “I was called in to see a 55-year-old man who the
nursing home said was constantly causing trouble,” she says.
“What I found was a man who was simply frustrated and bored.
His mind was still active and alert, but he was surrounded by
elderly people, many of whom were quite senile. In contrast to them
he seemed demanding to the staff, but really he just needed a
different kind of attention.” Oetgen suggests paying special
attention to the type of facility you choose if your care recipient
is younger. “Try to find an institution that is geared to
young adults, if possible. If not, at least try to find a place
where there is some interaction with people of a similar age and
activities that are planned with younger people in mind.”
