Schedule a Confidential Consultation With a Hershey Long-Term Care Planning
At Keystone Elder Law P.C., our Hershey long-term care planning lawyers are skilled, experienced, and compassionate advocates for clients. Our firm works proactively to shield middle-class families from the financial and legal risks associated with getting older. If you have any questions about long-term care planning in Pennsylvania, we are here to help. Contact us today for a confidential initial consultation with a top-tier Hershey long-term care planning attorney.
What is Long-Term Care Planning?
Long-term care planning is one of the most important—and underappreciated—aspects of elder law. It is about preparing for the care you might need if you become unable to do everyday tasks by yourself. Never assume that long-term care will not be needed. A significant number of older adults end up using long-term care services. It could be due to disability, illness, or simply general aging. Long-term care planning is fundamentally about figuring out how you will pay for the costs.
Why it Matters: The Cost of Long-Term Care in Pennsylvania is Extremely High
Even relatively short-term or long-term care needs can quickly put an enormous financial strain on a person and their family. For this reason, every older person in Hershey should develop a long-term care plan. What is the average cost of care? The Pennsylvania Health Care Association (PHCA) reports that the “median annual cost is $113,150” for those who need skilled nursing care.
As these services can quickly drain savings—and put immense financial pressure on individuals and their families—a comprehensive plan is a must. It can be stressful to plan for future long-term care needs, but there are options available that you can use to protect your assets. By acknowledging the risks, people in Hershey can better prepare themselves and their families for the potential costs.
Very Important Note: Medicare does not cover most nursing home costs. Instead, it is Medicaid that largely covers these costs. The difference matters. Medicaid is a means-tested program. People have to “spend down” certain assets before they can qualify for coverage.
We Help People in Hershey Explore All Long-Term Care Planning Strategies
Keystone Elder Law P.C. is a boutique estate plan and elder law firm with extensive experience handling long-term care planning in Pennsylvania. We are committed to helping middle-class people and families protect their hard-earned assets. Our Hershey, PA long-term care planning attorneys help clients with all types of strategies. Some notable long-term care planning options include:
- Long-Term Care Insurance: Private long-term care insurance coverage is one potential option. Broadly explained, it is a type of specialized insurance that helps cover the cost of care that isn’t covered by regular health insurance or Medicare. If you have long-term care coverage from an employer, it can be a useful strategy. However, getting individual long-term care insurance coverage can be expensive. It may not be a viable strategy for all people.
- Early Gifting: Early Gifting is another strategy we discuss with our clients. This involves transferring assets to loved ones or into a trust well before they might need long-term care. This strategy can help protect assets from being counted against them if they later need to qualify for Medicaid assistance for long-term care.
- Trusts: Medicaid-compliant trusts are special legal arrangements designed to protect a person’s assets while allowing them to qualify for Medicaid. By transferring assets into a Medicaid Trust, these assets are not counted when determining Medicaid eligibility. These trusts must be set up carefully. Our Hershey, PA long-term care planning lawyer can help.
Why Trust the Hershey Long-Term Care Planning Lawyers at Keystone Elder Law
Long-term care planning is complicated. Trying to navigate the process can be stressful, confusing, and altogether challenging. The right professional support can make a difference. With many testimonials from former clients and a commitment to personalized support, Keystone Elder Law P.C. solves problems. Among other things, our Hershey long-term care planning lawyer is ready to:
- Hear what you have to say and answer your long-term care planning questions;
- Help you gather, organize, and prepare financial documents and records;
- Advise you on the benefits and risks of all available strategies; and
- Take action to best protect your assets from long-term care costs.
Contact Our Hershey Long-Term Care Planning Attorney Today
At Keystone Elder Law P.C., our Hershey estate planning lawyer has extensive experience advising people and families on long-term care. If you have any questions about long-term care planning, please do not hesitate to contact us today for a completely confidential consultation. We provide long-term care planning services in Hershey, Dauphin County, and throughout Pennsylvania.
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REGISTER HERE for LONG-TERM CARE PLANNINGPower of Attorney
A Power of Attorney can be used to give another person the right to sell a car, home, or other property in the place of the maker of the Power of Attorney. A Power of Attorney might be used to allow another person to sign a contract for the maker of the Power of Attorney (the person who makes a power of attorney is called the “principal”). It can be used to give another person the authority to make health care decisions, do financial transactions, or sign legal documents that the principal cannot do for one reason or another. With few exceptions, Powers of Attorney can give others the right to do any legal acts that the makers of the Powers of Attorney could do them themselves. A General Power of Attorney gives the “power of attorney Agent” or simply “Agent” (the legal name of the person who is authorized to act for the principal) very broad powers to do almost every legal act that the principal can do. When Elder Law Attorneys draft general Powers of Attorney, they still list the types of things the Agent can do but these powers are very broad. People often do general Powers of Attorney to plan ahead for the day when they may not be able to take care of things themselves. By doing the General Power of Attorney, they designate someone who can do these things for them.
Normal Powers of Attorney terminate if and when the principal becomes incompetent. Yet many people do Powers of Attorney for the sole purpose of designating someone else to act for them if they cannot act for themselves. It is precisely when persons can no longer do for themselves that a Power of Attorney is most valuable. To remedy this inconsistency, the law created a Durable Power of Attorney that remains effective even if a person becomes incompetent. The only thing that distinguishes a Durable Power of Attorney from a regular Power of Attorney is special wording that states that the power survives the principal’s incapacity. Even a Durable Power of Attorney, however, may be terminated under certain circumstances if court proceedings are filed. Most Powers of Attorney done today are durable.
Yes. At the time the Power of Attorney is signed, the principal must be capable of understanding the document. Although a Power of Attorney is still valid if and when a person becomes incompetent, the principal must understand what he or she is signing at the moment of execution. That means a person can be suffering from dementia or Alzheimer’s Disease or be otherwise incompetent sometimes but as long as they have a lucid moment and are competent at the moment they sign the Power of Attorney, it is valid even if they do not remember signing it at a later date. At the time it is signed, the principal must know what the Power of Attorney does, whom they are giving the Power of Attorney to, and what property may be affected by the Power of Attorney.
Any competent person eighteen years of age and older can serve as an agent. Certain financial institutions can also serve. There is no course of education that agent must complete or any test that Agent must pass. Because a Power of Attorney is such a potentially powerful document, agents should be chosen for reliability and trustworthiness. In the wrong hands, a Power of Attorney can be a license to steal. It can be a big responsibility to serve as an agent.
For Medicaid
Medicare is health insurance and covers medical services such as physician appointments, therapy, blood tests, x rays, medical procedures and hospitalization. Medicare will sometime pay for rehabilitation in a long-term care facility for a period of 20 to 100 days, but not longer. In long-term care, Medicaid covers the cost of ongoing support services for daily functioning, such as room and board in a nursing home.
Medicaid is a federal program that is overseen by the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). In Pennsylvania, Medicaid is called Medical Assistance and is administered by the Department of Human Services (DHS).
In Pennsylvania, Medicaid funds are not available to pay for assisted living or personal care.
For Medicaid to pay for care in a nursing home, an individual recipient must be determined to need a nursing home level of care by a physician and the local Office of Aging. An individual whose income is not greater than three times the poverty level may keep up to $8,000 of total resources, but may otherwise keep only $2,400. The cash value of life insurance counts as a resource, but one car and a residential home does not count as a resource.
What an amazing team you have!!! Taking charge and getting things done, but also being so understanding and compassionate
Empowering Clients with Holistic Planning at
Keystone Elder Law
At Keystone Elder Law, we believe that the physical, social, legal, and financial considerations of our clients all intertwine. We utilize an interdisciplinary approach to evaluate each area, which allows for the creation of a plan that addresses the concerns of the individual as a whole as well as the family. To this end, our model of practice includes a Care Coordinator (usually a nurse or social worker), whose expertise complements our team of attorneys.
When the road of life is smooth, decisions about legal and financial matters are easy to push aside for “a rainy day.” Planning ahead, however, will allow for more options as you view the map of where you’ve been and where you want to go. Don’t let a crisis limit your choices or derail your plans.
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