Nursing Inside

Aging is expensive. Although the conditions of nursing homes and the quality of health care is better than it has ever been–the prices are higher than they have ever been as well. Long-term medical care can completely deplete your savings and assets–a monster than adds penury to pain. But the greatest amount of trepidation will not keep us from the brink–we cannot slow the years to save our bank account or stop the failing of our bodies to buttress our investments. Instead, we must prepare, and prepare now, both for our own expenses and for the expenses of those who are dependent upon us.

But how to prepare best? What programs deal with long-term medical expenses, like nursing homes? What laws are in place to help or hinder preparation? They vary by state, so you will need to contact an elder-care lawyer, but even to do so seems to require at least a basic understanding of the programs and types of laws that govern these vitally important financial and medical questions.

This book seeks to answer these questions as best it can, in a general way and with the constant proviso that you will need to contact an elder-care lawyer to determine your actual best moves in your own area. But the concepts it illuminates, the programs it describes, and the techniques it illustrates are invaluable.

It begins with simple definitions–what is medicaid?–and moves on to the pressing and important issues of how to deal with assets and how to protect them when applying for aid, how to qualify for medicare, what to do with homes, how to compose wills, where to deposit deeds, and whether and how to purchase annuities. In short, it provides a general overview of the whole field, bringing to mind issues you may not have thought about before (such as alternatives to nursing homes), as well as clearly laying out the options concerning issues you have worried about for a long time.

The last few chapters, however, seem the most valuable to me–as this book serves not just as a general guide, but as a springboard to more particular assistance. These chapters include advice on how to find information about laws and programs specific to your state, as well as advice about how to find a good elder-care lawyer (the essential next step). A final chapter on Alzheimer’s Disease and Medicaid cements the conclusion that this is a comprehensive book in its general way, well-preparing those who read it to step confidently forward in their planning for their own and their dependent’s old age.

Anyone who will have to deal with the problems of long-term health-care–that is to say, everyone–ought to be familiar with the financial issues surrounding it, so no big surprises await them just beyond the golden gates of retirement, and this book provides exactly the right sort of introduction.

I give it a four.
Rating: 4 / 5

With “baby boomers” beginning into their third trimester of their lives and the increase in life-expectancy, nursing homes (and Medicaid) are becoming more and more important. This book really focuses on explaining “what Medicaid is,” and how to approach receiving your coverage; “what annuities are,” and how you receive your investments. Also discussing topics such as gifts, wills and deeds, and other essentials for one’s retired life, this book is straight-forward and easy to read, teaching any common reader about these important facts.

Although this book is set-up with a clean, precise, and informative approach, the focus leans more towards Medicaid procedures. Providing only one chapter on Nursing Homes (and more on alternatives to Nursing homes), the book is un-proportionate from its title/focus.

Finally, the case studies at the end of the text are great, but would be better suited throughout the text, rather than clumped together at the end.

Overall, the information in this text is thorough and complete, while the structure could be reconstructed to be more effective.

Rating: 4 / 5

With more baby boomers joining an aging population, it’s more important than ever for libraries to include Complete Guide to Medicaid and Nursing Home Costs on their health reference shelves: it provides a survey of legal means of protecting assets, teaches about state and federal laws regulating Medicaid and nursing homes, and tells how to plan ahead for proper asset management. Libraries catering to an aging popular will find this an increasingly popular reference to a complex topic.
Rating: 5 / 5