
Avoid these classic Medicare Mistakes
Medicare can be confusing. Beware of these missteps — which can hike your costs.

Medicare can be confusing. Beware of these missteps — which can hike your costs.

The bill for long-term care adds up fast. The annual median cost for a private room in a nursing home was $105,850 in 2020, according to Genworth. The government could pick up these costs if you qualify for Medicaid, but that’s easier said than done.

Your chances of getting paid to be a family caregiver are best if you are caring for a U.S. military veteran or for someone eligible for Medicaid, but other possibilities exist.

From age 50 on, it’s not unusual to have occasional trouble finding the right word or remembering where you put things. However, persistent difficulty with memory, cognition and ability to perform everyday tasks might be signs that something more serious is happening to a loved one’s brain.

The pandemic has kept our aging parents away from us and us away from them for over a year. This isolation is not total. Some people have access, some ignore warnings and some are intent on using the pandemic to hide their actions.

If a person close to you has been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease, it may be time to address some serious financial questions.

The IRS allows some limited tax breaks on medical expenses and insurance premiums related to long-term care.

Advocates are celebrating an important victory for individuals who provide care for their parents at home. The new decision will likely lead to a substantial expansion in the number of homes transferred to those caregivers.

My Dad has been deemed unable to make his own decisions, and he does not have a Power of Attorney. The hospital said we need to apply for guardianship. What is that?

A living will is a legal document that allows you to specify the kind of care you’d like to receive in end-of-life situations. This is different from an advance healthcare directive, though either one can be an important part of an estate plan.