Texas has managed to empower home and community-based services in response to the ever increasing demands for long-term care. In fact, the state government has so many plans in boosting long-term care services for the residents, but those plans remain unsettled due to budgetary pressures. The federal Medicaid program allocates more budget on institutional care rather than home-based care, which compels residents of Texas to fund their own long-term care. Texans have to actually wait for a year or two to receive financial support.
Most states are responsible for providing nursing home beds to eligible Medicaid beneficiaries, but they are, otherwise, hampered by budgetary shortages and are compelled to reduce home and community-based services. Many health reform advocates are demanding for more budget from the Congress that will boost in-home programs and cut down the soaring prices of nursing home care.
The majority of Texans aspire to age in the comforts of their home and be taken care of a loved one. However, those hopes may bury and remain a dream for everyone as the prices of home care surge at its highest rates. Families in Texas will pay for around $41,070 for a year of assistance from a home health aide, meaning they would be forced to spend down their last dollars to sustain the care for themselves or their loved ones. A home health aide provides care for seniors, disabled, and chronically-illed individuals, he or she makes it comfortable for the patient to perform activities such as bathing, dressing, walking, eating, and etc.
Most families need the help of a home health aide to be able to continue their normal activities, but the costs of those services seem to ruin their finances, and when they otherwise turn to nursing home care, the services are also high that could almost nudge them to poverty. The costs of both home care and nursing care are indeed painstaking for families. Many are forced to finance their own long term care needs, and then wait until their assets are low enough to meet the requirements for Medicaid eligibility. Texans feel unfortunate as they may all end up impoverished because they need to deplete their assets for Medicaid eligibility: $2,000 for individuals and $3,000 for couples.
The Texas Long Term Care Partnership
The Texas Department of Insurance proposed the establishment of a long term care insurance partnership in the state that will comply to the requirements of Deficit Reduction Act. Under this partneship, the state will not consider the asset of an individual when determing if he or she is qualified for Medicaid support. There is no required amount of assets that a person should keep because partnership policies allow individuals to keep assets equal to the amount of insurance benefits paid by partnership policy. Moreover, the protected assets are not subject to Medicaid liens and recovery. This is popularly known as “asset disregard” or protection.
The Inflation Protection is another feature of a partnership policy. This protects policyholders from the soaring prices of LTC, but the amount depends on the policyholder’s age. Policyholders below the age of 61 should have 5 percent compound annual inflation protection, but they also have the option to purchase inflation protection at much lower rate. Meanwhile, inflation protection for policyholders above the age of 76 is only optional.
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