Ask the Expert: What are the Costs of Aging in America?
Q. My 65th birthday is just around the corner. I retired from a job that I loved last summer and I think that I am ready for what lies ahead. The problem is, I am not sure if I can afford it — future long-term care costs in particular are making me very nervous, because I tried to get long-term care insurance but I was denied because of a pre-existing medical condition! I have several friends who also tried to get long-term care insurance but it wound up being way too expensive for them to afford. Are there options for people like us to consider in place of long-term care insurance?
A. Living longer does not come cheaply. During retirement our income typically drops dramatically, but our expenses do not. This is especially true when it comes to long-term care.
- Many retirees drastically underestimate long-term care costs and therefore don’t incorporate it into their overall retirement plan. According to a recent article in CNN Money, the median cost of living in private nursing homes and assisted living facilities has ballooned by 24% and 23%, respectively, over the last five years. Below are some of the items you should take into consideration when estimating the cost of long-term care, and some figures that are based on current research:The Federal government reports that 70% of people who reach the age of 65 will require long term care services at some point in their lives. Of those, 20% will need care for between two and five years, while another 20% will need care longer than five years.
- The median annual cost of private nursing home care in the United States is now $83,950. In Northern Virginia, nursing homes cost between $9,000-$12,000 a month or $108-144,000 a year (a few thousand less in Fredericksburg). An average stay in a nursing home will often impoverish a family.
- Semi-private room costs in nursing homes have risen to an average of $75,405 per year in the U.S., and even a stay at an assisted living facility — where patients do not receive anywhere near the level of care that they would at a private nursing home — now tends to cost over $41,000 per year.
- Less costly alternatives include hiring home health care aides and other live-in assistance. The median price for those services have only risen at about one percent per year over the last half decade to about $44,000 annually.
- Medicare and other forms of health insurance don’t cover long-term care in a nursing home. Medicaid will cover this type of long-term care, but to qualify for Medicaid, you’ll need to work with an experienced Elder Law Firm, such as the Farr Law Firm, to protect your hard-earned assets. This is because our American health care system essentially discriminates against people who get the “wrong type” of illness or injury – an illness such as dementia or an injury such as a stroke – which results in the need for care that doctors can’t help.
- As demand for long-term care services is increasing, the cost of home health aides, adult day care, and nursing homes is also rising. These increasing expenses aren’t likely to slow as Americans live longer and have more health problems later in life, experts say.
For more details on the costs of healthcare, please see the 2013 Genworth Cost of Care Study. In addition, for details on the costs of housing, transportation, insurance etc., please see the Expenditure of the Aged Chartbook, released earlier this year.
These numbers aren’t meant to scare people but to educate people on the reality so they can take the necessary steps to plan for them while they still can. To answer your question, there are options for paying for long-term care besides long-term care insurance. The two primary methods to pay for long-term care (besides paying out of your own pocket and winding up broke) are Medicaid (available to anyone who can qualify) and Veterans Aid and Attendance (available to qualified wartime veterans). But to get these benefits you need to first protect your assets so that your assets won’t count against you when trying to get these benefits. The best way to protect your assets, while you’re still healthy, is through the Living Trust Plus™ Asset Protection Trust, which allows you to protect your assets from the expenses of probate, PLUS lawsuits, PLUS nursing home expenses. Read more about the Living Trust Plus™ Asset Protection Trust at our firm’s website or at http://www.livingtrustplus.com, or order my best-selling book about this trust at Amazon.com.
When it comes to planning for long-term care, while many people acknowledge that they will need it, few have put a plan in place. If you have not planned for long term care in advance, it is wise to do so to ensure that you and your husband will always receive the care you need without worry or financial struggle. Learn more at our Long-Term Care Asset Protection Law Firm of Evan H. Farr, P.C. website, or call us at our Virginia Elder Law Fairfax office at 703-691-1888 or at our Virginia Elder Law Fredericksburg office at 540-479-1435 to make an appointment for a no-cost consultation.
Fairfax Estate Planning
Fairfax Guardianship
elder law fairfax va
High Court Denies Review Of Reimbursement Ruling
Ask Liza: Annual Gifts and Lifetime Gifts
Dear Liza, I would like to give my son $200k to upgrade homes. Can me and my wife each give $13,000 to my son, daughter in law, and two grand children? That would be $102,000, and then apply the remaining…
Pharmacy Properly Denied Attorney Fees In Reimbursement Action, 4th Circuit Rules
Ask Liza: Annual Gifts and Lifetime Gifts
Dear Liza, I would like to give my son $200k to upgrade homes. Can me and my wife each give $13,000 to my son, daughter in law, and two grand children? That would be $102,000, and then apply the remaining…
Hospice Provider To Pay $3 Million To Resolve Medicare False Claims
Ask Liza: Annual Gifts and Lifetime Gifts
Dear Liza, I would like to give my son $200k to upgrade homes. Can me and my wife each give $13,000 to my son, daughter in law, and two grand children? That would be $102,000, and then apply the remaining…
Florida Federal Judge Grants Government Partial Judgment In Medicare Dispute
Ask Liza: Annual Gifts and Lifetime Gifts
Dear Liza, I would like to give my son $200k to upgrade homes. Can me and my wife each give $13,000 to my son, daughter in law, and two grand children? That would be $102,000, and then apply the remaining…
Injunction Requires Florida Medicaid Agency To Cover Therapy For Autism
Ask Liza: Annual Gifts and Lifetime Gifts
Dear Liza, I would like to give my son $200k to upgrade homes. Can me and my wife each give $13,000 to my son, daughter in law, and two grand children? That would be $102,000, and then apply the remaining…
Can You Ride a Bicycle Drunk?
Max often begins a question with “can you,” as in: can you ride a bicycle drunk? For the record, I’m sure you can ride a bicycle drunk but I don’t recall if I ever have. But when Max asks a question this way, he really wants to know—whatever the idea he has come up with—can you legally do it? Like ride a bicycle drunk.
When this question came up, the bets in our family were 2-2, with parents saying it’s against the law and kids saying it’s perfectly legal. Augie, who is five, first said “no,” then changed his answer and also commented that “I think it’s OK so long as the police don’t see you.” Hmmm. A practical streak, that kid.
Turns out, the kids are right. It’s not against the law in Minnesota to be an intoxicated bicyclist. Minnesota’s driving while impaired (DWI) laws cover motor vehicles, motorboats, snowmobiles, all-terrain vehicles, off-highway motorcycles, and off-road vehicles. But not bicycles. Bicycles are specifically exempted (in good sense) from Minnesota’s definition of a motor vehicle, to wit:
Motor vehicle does not include an electric personal assistive mobility device or a vehicle moved solely by human power.
Oh, you noticed the “electric personal assistive mobility device?” Y’know, one of those electric mobility scooters. Or, how about a Segway? It’s not a motor vehicle, and the Minnesota Court of Appeals actually weighed in on this one, upholding the dismissal of a case against a Minnesota man who, while on his way home hopped on his Segway while legally drunk (and started drifting into the road from the walking path). Barry Edwards, a friend and Minnesota criminal defense lawyer, has other examples, including a Zamboni, riding lawnmower, electric golf cart, and motorized La-Z-Boy.
But I digress. We’re talking about a bicycle.
The Intoxicated Bicyclist
Just because it’s legal to ride your bicycle drunk does not mean 1) it’s a good idea or 2) you’re not breaking some other law or 3) it’s legal in all states.
First, the question Max asked is whether you can be charged with a specific crime of, say, bicycling while intoxicated (BWI). At least in Minnesota, there is no such crime. But there are other state laws and local ordinances dealing with being intoxicated. For instance, you can legally ride your bicycle drunk to a polling place, but you cannot be intoxicated in a polling place, and you cannot vote if you are “obviously intoxicated.”
What about the simple act of being publicly drunk? Y’know, on your bike on a public city street? Not a crime. Minnesota’s Liquor Act states that “Drunkeness [Is] Not a Crime“:
No person may be charged with or convicted of the offense of drunkenness or public drunkenness. Nothing herein prevents the prosecution and conviction of an intoxicated person for offenses other than drunkenness or public drunkenness nor does this section relieve a person from civil liability for an injury to persons or property caused by the person while intoxicated.
Wow. Ever since the Andy Griffith Show, I always thought it was a crime to be publicly drunk. Turns out it’s not in Minnesota, with exceptions. So being drunk on a bicycle in Minnesota— without doing something else like, say, commuting intoxicated to a job on a train or steamship—is perfectly legal.
The Interstate Traveling Drunken Bicyclist
If you choose to partake of bicycling under the influence (BUI), don’t do it in California. It’s illegal to ride a bicycle on California roads while drunk or under the influence of drugs (or both). The penalty? Up to a $250 fine and a misdemeanor on your record. Similarly, Colorado’s impaired driving laws apply to bicycles (and you can also be convicted of reckless driving of a bicycle in Colorado).
South Dakota law specifically excludes drunk horse-riding and drunk tricycling from its DUI laws, saying that they do not apply to:
any person who is riding
(1) A horse or other animal; and
(2) A bicycle, tricycle, or other unpowered foot-pedal conveyance.
I love South Dakota’s added detail of “other animal.” Turns out that being drunk and riding a dog, donkey, cat, or muskrat in South Dakota is perfectly legal—provided it doesn’t run afoul of some other animal protection law.
Washington state has a specific law covering “intoxicated bicyclists,” but it does not make it illegal to bike while drunk. Instead, it allows a police officer to offer help or transport an intoxicated biker to a safe place, though the officer cannot help out “if the bicycle rider refuses to accept it.” It does allow the officer to impound a bicycle if the continued riding of it drunk would be a threat to public safety.
Oregon, Washington’s southern neighbor, is not so magnanimous with drunken cyclists. Under Oregon law, riding a bicycle while intoxicated is the same as driving a vehicle while intoxicated, with all the penalties associated with drunken driving, including Oregon’s “three strikes” rule for revocation of a driver license.
And in Illinois, a man who was drunk on a bicycle ran a red light and collided with a motorcyle. He was charged with driving under the influence, but the court dismissed the charge because, similar to Minnesota, a bicycle is not a motor vehicle for purposes of the DUI statute. So, unless the law has changed, it’s legal to be drunk on a bicycle in Illinois.
Because-Noun, A Lawyer’s Use
If you are not yet aware of the “because-noun,” here’s a quick tutorial.
Before the internet, before sometime last week even, the word “because” was normally regarded—grammatically at least—as a subordinating conjunction, used in two varying ways to connect pieces of a sentence, to wit:
- connecting two finite clauses, as in “I am writing this post because I want you to read it.” or
- connecting a prepositional phrase to the main part of a sentence, as in “I am writing this post because of my ego.”
Recently, though, the internet has changed that, and we now have the because-noun, also called the “prepositional-because” and even the “because-gerund.” Basically, the because-noun omits the typical clauses that follow the word because, culminating instead with a single noun or any other grammatical or linguistic device you can bring on. Why? Because meme. That’s why.
As the Atlantic’s Megan Barber explained in a post that seems to have brought this burning issue to the mainstream, the because-noun “is exceptionally bloggy and aggressively casual and implicitly ironic.” Or as one linquist stated:
It has a snappy, jocular feel, with a syntactic jolt that allows long explanations to be forgone.
Sure, that’s all great, but what’s a lawyer to do? Allow these syntactic jolts into our memoranda, legal briefs, and client correspondence? Into our otherwise stilted and overblown legalistic language? Hardly, because lawyers.
First, most lawyers and judges are intellectually fearful of irony. Moreover, they do not generally recognize it—even on Twitter–let alone irony that is “implicit” and “jocular.” We just can’t do it. But, with a couple of tweaks, lawyers should be good to go in another more formal and accepted memish direction. That is, lawyers can easily modify the because-noun and replace it with the in-view-of-the-fact-that-noun, which also comes in short and long flavors, such as the inasmuch-noun and the prepositional-owing-to-the-fact-that. Confused? Here are some examples to help:
Originalism forces legislatures to reconsider and possibly repeal or amend their own bad laws, rather than to leave it to the courts to get rid of them, in view of the fact that Scalia.
Though plaintiff may argue that the tortious behavior at issue in the case did not occur, his actions and words contradict such a position, inasmuch Deposition.
When considering a motion for summary judgment, the court views the facts in the record, and all the reasonable inferences that can be drawn from the record, in the light most favorable to the non-moving party, owing to the fact that Duh.
Remember, lawyers are recognized experts at using big words when smaller words will do. Why change, even in the face of a popular meme? We don’t see a reason.
Identifying the Signs of Autism Earlier will Lead to a More Productive Life
When Matt was a baby, his parents became concerned early that he never looked anyone in the eye, didn’t respond to sound, and missed several developmental milestones, such as pointing and waving. He was their first child and the possibility of autism was the farthest thing from their mind. To them, he was just a “late bloomer.”
When Matt began daycare, his teacher, who had some training in special education, was concerned by Matt’s developmental delays and behaviors and called his parents in to discuss the situation. His mother, Rebecca, was heartbroken by the idea and was in denial at first. When she got over the initial shock of what the teacher was saying, she and her husband, Steve, brought Matt in for an evaluation at a top local hospital and began therapy for him at 18 months old. Today, Matt is an outgoing 10 year old boy, who overcame most of the symptoms of autism, due to early intervention.
How early can you diagnose autism? The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommends screening children beginning at 18 months, but research suggests subtle warning signs may be apparent even earlier. The earlier a child is diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder, the earlier critical behavioral and learning interventions can begin.
According to Dr. Patricia Manning-Courtney, director of the Kelly O’Leary Center for Autism Spectrum Disorders at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, at age six months, it is very difficult to distinguish kids with autism and kids without autism. From age 12 to 18 months, there may be subtle differences in eye contact, visual tracking behavior, and play. Children with an autism spectrum disorder may have more limited and repetitive play, less name response and social smiling, babbling, and gesture use. For more details on the signs of autism, see the href=”http://www.autismspeaks.org/what-autism/learn-signs” target=”_blank”Autism Speaks website.
There is no tailor-made treatment for all forms of autism. Different therapies that may work well in some individuals may be ineffective in others. However, there is one form of treatment that proves effective in every single application: early intervention. With incredible improvements in diagnostic techniques, specialists are now able to diagnose autism spectrum disorders in infants as young as six months . According to the AAP, “The earlier an autistic child receives care, the better his or her prospects for living a fruitful and productive life become.”
If you have a child who has been diagnosed with a special need, such as an autism spectrum disorder, as a parent or guardian you want to ensure that your child will remain financially secure even when you are no longer there to provide support. A Special Needs Trust is a vehicle that provides assets from which a disabled person can maintain his or her quality of life, while still remaining eligible for needs-based programs that will cover basic health and living expenses.
If your special needs child will likely need care for life, it’s important to provide legal protections for your child. The Fairfax and Fredericksburg Special Needs Law Firm of Evan H. Farr, P.C. can guide you through this process. Be sure to check out our dedicated Special Needs Website at http://VirginiaSpecialNeeds.com. If you have a loved one with special needs, call 703-691-1888 in Fairfax or 540-479-1435 in Fredericksburg to make an appointment for a no-cost consultation.
Fairfax Estate Planning
Fairfax Guardianship
elder law fairfax va
Louisiana Federal Judge Dismisses Medicare False Claims Case
Ask Liza: Annual Gifts and Lifetime Gifts
Dear Liza, I would like to give my son $200k to upgrade homes. Can me and my wife each give $13,000 to my son, daughter in law, and two grand children? That would be $102,000, and then apply the remaining…