Long-Term Living Care is NOT Covered by Medicare. Are you prepared?

Infographic by Longtermcare.gov

As millions of Baby Boomers are retiring or will be soon, the rush to provide needed medical services has thrown the medical industry for a loop.  It seems our nation has never quite had this many people coming of (old) age but not dying for many years (10-20 on average).  If you are in this group of Baby Boomers (aged 45 to 65), you are looking forward to your Medicare kicking in, living it up off your hard earned retirement, and eventually settling down into your Social Security check.  If you are a Senior (65+), you are looking into ways to stay safe at home as long as possible while still getting the care you need.

But what happens to you if you have to leave your home and receive care in a nursing home?  Do you have a plan, because Medicare doesn't cover that.

While Forbes has recently stated that there won't be a shortage of doctors who will accept Medicare under the new Affordable Care Act, AKA Obamacare, (we posted this article on our Facebook page), there are other cutbacks that Medicare is toying with (Scooters and Wheelchair takebacks, anyone?) and one that might surprise you is that Medicare does not pay for long-term living/nursing home care.  Now this isn't a new cutback but it is shocking nonetheless.  Assisted living, nursing homes, custodial care, adult day care- none of these are covered by Medicare.  Medicaid covers them and so does a long-term care insurance policy if you know you won't qualify for Medicaid.

Hospice and end of life care are all covered, so don't worry there, and while no one wants to think about getting another insurance policy, it would be worth looking into with your family.  The end of 2013 is a perfect time to get the one last item off your "to-do for retirement" list.