As elder law attorneys, we are firmly committed to the well-being of seniorcitizens in our area. At this point in history, there are an unprecedentednumber of people attaining senior status, because the baby boomer generation isgetting older.
A good barometer to use to understand how rapidly the population is agingwould be to take a look at Social Security benefit applications. Depending onyour year of birth, you are eligible for your full benefit when you aresomewhere between 66 and 67 years of age.
The Social Security Administration has indicated that they are receivingaround 10,000 to 15,000 applications for benefits every day. This has beengoing on for quite a while, and the high volume is going to persist for morethan a decade.
One major elder law issue that really stands above all the others is thematter of long-term care and its potential financial impact on Cincinnati areafamilies. A very significant percentage of people spend the latter portion oftheir lives in nursing homes, and these facilities are very expensive.
If you work and pay taxes for at least 10 years, you will qualify forMedicare as a source of health insurance when you are 65. Your spouse would beeligible as well, regardless of his or her work history, as long as you havemet this requirement.
That’s the good news, but the bad news is that Medicare will not pay fornursing home care. Medicaid will pay for it, and this is why Medicaid planningis an elder law priority. However, rules are complicated and timing isimportant, so it is wise to discuss everything with an elder law attorney fromour firm.
Elder Abuse
The other major elder law issue that threatens the oldest old is elderabuse. If you visit the National Council on Aging website, you can tap into some of the many resources thatthey offer along with information that is very useful for local seniors.
Unfortunately, there is elder physical abuse that can take place withinprivate homes, nursing homes, adult day care facilities, etc. In addition todirect physical abuse, there are instances of neglect, emotional abuse,confinement, and willful deprivation.
It is a horrible thing to consider, but you should certainly be pragmaticabout all possibilities when you are planning ahead for the events that maytake place toward the end of your life. This also applies to the children ofelderly parents.
The idea of a senior citizen being physically or emotionally abused is hardto accept, but there is yet another disturbing form of abuse that is a majorproblem in the form of financial exploitation. It is now widely considered tobe a truly authentic and steadily growing health care crisis.
It is impossible for researchers to get a true understanding of the extentof the problem, because the vast majority of cases go unreported. There are afew reasons for this phenomenon. One of them is embarrassment, and another isthe simple fact that an elder may not know that acts of abuse have occurred.
In other instances, the victims want to protect the perpetrators becausethey are family members and/or caregivers. A study has found that about $36.5billion is lost annually, but once again, this is an estimate, so actual lossescould be much higher.
Download Our Elder Law and Estate Planning Worksheet
We would like to invite you to download our eye-opening elder law and estateplanning worksheet. It is being offered free of charge at the present time, andyou can visit our worksheet access page to get all the details.
Schedule a Consultation With an Elder Law Attorney!
We are here to help if you would like to discuss these looming threats witha licensed elder law lawyer, and virtual consultations are available. You can giveus a call at 513-721-1513 to set up an appointment, and if you wouldrather send us a message, use the contact form on this website.
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