Federal Deficits May Force More Alzheimer's Patients To Be Cared For At Home

Jan. 26, 2011 - PRLog -- Press Release
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Aurora, Colorado                             Pat Flach
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                                             pfflach@gmail.com
                                                       
                                                       



Federal Deficit May Force More
Alzheimer’s Patients To Be Cared For At Home

Both Federal and State funds now cover many nursing home costs

Once a senior’s assets have been depleted the cost for nursing home care is often provided by a combination of State and Federal funds either Medicare or Medicaid. With renewed vows from the White House to decrease the deficit, Federal aid for social programs is likely to become scarcer and scarcer. At the same time, states are experiencing their own deficits and budget crunches.  Medicaid, which is funded by the individual state and the benefits vary by state, will undoubtedly be on the cutting block in some fashion.  All of this even before the vast majority of Baby Boomers hit the nursing homes.

,A nursing home resident with cognitive impairment may need care longer than the 2.5 year average time in a nursing home because the body may be strong but the mind is weak. While many, if not most, seniors do develop some kind of physical impairments that affect longevity, all do not.  Many are still physically active well into their 80’s playing golf, dancing and even working out. With a dementia such as Alzheimer’s Disease their heart could be still going strong and they could live many years.

The average cost of nursing home care in the United States is a staggering $70,000 per year so if one lives 2.5 years in the nursing home that amounts to $175,000 per person or if a couple both need care, $350,000 in just 2.5 years.  Needless to say, those amounts would strain almost any family’s savings.

More and more Baby Boomers are becoming aware that their parents may need their help as they age. The problem is compounded when one of the parents develops a cognitive impairment and the children have to step in to make arrangements to help the parent stay in their own home or to figure out how to move the parent, or parents, into one of the siblings homes as the alternative is expensive locked facility nursing home care.

Pat Flach (rhymes with Bach) of Dementia Home Care is quoted as saying “When I cared for my Mother with Alzheimer’s a few years ago, I could not find the information I needed to make everyone comfortable and secure so I decided to start a company that puts the answers in one place.  I hear from people every day who tell me my website is exactly what they have been looking for, either for immediate needs or in knowing the situation may be coming up in the future.” The information can be found at http://www.linebell.com.

Ms. Flach says in addition to the information on the website, she offers a guide with some basic tips for anyone considering a caregiving role for a loved one.  The guide is called “5 Tips of Caring For Seniors With Dementia”. In order to help as many people as possible the guide is available for instant download for only $1. It can be found at http://www.linebell.com.

Patricia Flach is a retired Insurance Professional with over 26 years of experience many of which were spent counseling clients on the pros and cons of Long Term Care Insurance. She assures visitors to her website that she doesn’t sell any insurance products but definitely recommends the Long Term Care Insurance for those who are young enough to buy it, optimally about age 50, as it gets more expensive the older you get. While she was still working she cared for her Mother who died 6 years ago. http://www.linebell.com.

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Families of seniors with Dementia can get information and resources here on how to take care of their loved one in the home