An Oklahoma City Medicaid planning attorney can help you make plans to pay for your medical care. Covering the costs of care can be very difficult for seniors, especially if they have a lot of medical needs and must use many different healthcare services.
Far too many people do not realize they need to be concerned about the costs of medical care because they incorrectly believe that Medicare will pick up the tab for all of their health services once they qualify for Medicare coverage. The reality is, Medicare will not pay for long-term care services, and Medicare has high premiums, high co-insurance costs and coverage gaps that make affording care difficult for those with limited assets.
Medicaid can help you cover the costs of care that might otherwise be financially devastating, as Medicaid covers things that Medicare doesn’t–including long-term care services. It is important to plan for the protection of assets prior to the time when you require care if you are hoping Medicaid can help since Medicaid has a look-back rule which can disqualify you from coverage for extended periods of time. If you took certain steps to protect assets within five years of when you tried to qualify for benefits, you may be in for a rude shock.
To find out more about Medicaid planning and how to prepare for the cost of healthcare as a senior, contact Parman & Easterday today. Our legal team can assist you in creating a comprehensive plan that will help ensure healthcare costs do not derail your retirement. When you consider the amount you may need to cover your care, you will see why Medicaid planning is so important.
How Much Do Seniors Need To Save For Medical Care
Seniors need to save a substantial amount to pay for healthcare because they must pay Medicare premiums and for any services Medicare does not cover. A new report from Employee Benefits Research Institute reveals how much may actually be necessary for seniors to set aside just to cover the costs of medical services they will need in retirement.
For a married retired couple to have a 90 percent chance of affording medical care, that couple would need to have saved $349,000 just for their care if they fell within the 90th percentile for prescription drug use. This number was calculated based on an assumption that the couple purchased an optional Medigap policy and paid premiums for that policy.
Obviously, not every couple is going to be in the 90th percentile for prescription drug use. However, the required savings is still very high even for those who use an average amount of prescription drugs. For example, for a man with median prescription drug expenses to have a 50 percent chance of covering medical care during his senior years, he would need to save $72,000 for healthcare expenditures. And for a woman to have a 50 percent chance of having enough money to pay for medical care if she is in the median for prescription drug use, she would need to have saved $93,000.
These costs are just for healthcare– they do not take into account hundreds of thousands of dollars in additional costs which may be incurred if any long-term care services become needed at some point during the course of retirement.
Getting Help From Oklahoma City Medicaid Planning Lawyers
Parman & Easterday can provide assistance in creating a retirement plan to help you save enough money to have financial security when you are a senior. However, covering $350,000 in healthcare costs is difficult for even wealthy families to do. If you are able to pay this much, you may end up dramatically reducing the inheritance you leave to the people you love.
You do not want to take a chance on needing care you cannot afford or losing your chance to leave a family legacy. Join us for a free seminar to find out more about Medicaid planning and what is involved in qualifying for Medicaid coverage. You can also give us a call today at (405) 843-6100 or contact us online to talk with an experienced attorney about your options for having Medicaid pay for your care while protecting your assets. Call today so you can get started with this complicated planning process.
Since founding Parman & Easterday in 1985, Larry has led over 1,000 free, community-service education programs and helped more than 10,000 Oklahoma families go from putting off their estate plan to getting it done. His goal for every client is the same: to become the person their family calls "the one who took care of everything."
Larry is the author of three books: The Straight Shooter's Guide to Estate Planning; Estate Planning Basics; and Guiding Those Left Behind in Oklahoma. He served as Oklahoma's Secretary of State and Secretary of Commerce, and his firm is the only member of the American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys in the state.
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