HCM 700 Milestone One

The topic that I have selected for my project is making seniors eligible for caregiver services and provided the resources needed for caregivers to fulfill their roles as successfully as possible for the duration needed for their services assisting a family member. As a person who progresses with Alzheimer’s, the need for them to have help in their daily lives becomes more constant as they as their short-term memory becomes impaired, are no longer able to drive, and even forget to sometimes verbally say what is on their mind. Memory loss and confusion can make the affected person become agitated, depressed, and even sometimes verbally or physically aggressive, as they slowly lose the ability to communicate what they are trying to say. They can also become a danger to themselves and others as the disease progresses.

While there are services available, such as in home health care through a third party or a family member, having the patient become eligible for these types of services can be very difficult, as well as getting the family member assisting them to receive monetary aid or other resources to help them. In many cases, it is the child or other close family member who takes on the role of helping out the person affected. While Medicare can help in offsetting these costs, it can become very expensive if the patient is not eligible for Medicaid, and the hurdles one must go through can be very tedious, and expensive. For example, a senior who owns their home is not eligible for Medicaid services and Medicare can take away property or other assets to offset the cost, so one must find ways to navigate this hurdle. One way is to put the home in an irrevocable trust, and have their monthly social security and pensions diverted to a third-party pooled trust to pay their expenses. To do this, one must pay thousands to an attorney to have this set up, based on the laws of the state one resides in.

The services to provide free or lost cost care for our seniors suffering with this illness, is acutely important. Too many of our elderly population face the prospect of losing their homes and being unable to pass it on to their children or grandchildren because of the cost of services through Medicare alone, which will seize assets to offset costs, yet those who own no property can easily get free services, which I do not find to be fair. We need to better help our elderly population, as well as those family members who face the burdens of tsking care of people, such as their parents, for the duration of time left to them as comfortable as possible.

References

CaringKind (2022). The Heart of Alzheimer’s Caregiving. Retrieved from https://www.caringkindnyc.org/programsandservices/

KTS Pooled Trust (2022). KTS learning center. Retrieved from https://ktstrust.org/can-a-homeowner-qualify-for-medicaid-in-new-york-state/