Taking care of someone can be time-consuming, and when it comes to your family, you want the best healthcare available. That is why there are places where you can get long-term care like a nursing home. These places present special care for those who suffer from physical or mental conditions.
Residents receive attention from qualified nurses and staff, so you do not have to worry about any incident. Places like this are great for people who cannot give the necessary care for someone. However, you need to pay a certain amount of money to get a room for someone in the facility.
This price can vary depending on the state you are in, but what would happen if you cannot pay for it? We recommend that you keep reading to know about a nursing home and what to do if you do not have enough money for it.
Specialties of a nursing home
These centers are great not only for people with special conditions but for the elderly too. The resident can stay for a temporary time or even permanently, with 24-hour healthcare attention. This will provide the safety people need, especially for those who suffer from memory conditions.
Do not worry that your loved one will be alone, since there are a lot of people that they can meet. It is a healthy environment where they can stay, and choosing an adequate nursing home is extremely important.
Search the facilities where they cover the necessities, services, and medical care that your loved one needs. Getting them in these nursing homes can ease the lives of families, and you can always visit them to interact and talk.
Cost of a private room
It is important to note that a room in a nursing home is quite expensive. Before you decide where you want to take your loved one, you should analyze first some factors. For example, the price can vary on the type of special treatment, the location of the center, and of course, the amount of time the resident intends to stay.
Also, the amount of money you have to pay varies if you choose a semi-private room or a private room. The national monthly average for both options is $7,756 and $8,821 respectively.
If you want to know how much are you going to pay, you can use the Genworth Cost of Care Survey. This tool helps you calculate the healthcare payment for different care centers, including nursing home facilities near you.
Consequences of not paying the nursing home
After knowing what to expect regarding the price of a room in these facilities, you should prepare to pay. But, if you cannot afford it anymore, the nursing home can discharge or transfer the resident to another affordable center.
Though the facility cannot evict the resident immediately, the person must receive a notification at least 30 days prior to the eviction. You should read the policy when you start the paperwork for long-term care since it can say what would happen if you fail to pay.
There are other reasons to transfer to another nursing home, like moving to another place, the center shutting down, or if the necessities of the resident are not enough. However, when it comes to financial reasons, this is the most common and complicated.
What to do in order to pay less
It is not the end for you, as there are insurance programs you could opt for. For example, Medicaid is the option that most US residents have nowadays, available for low-income families. To qualify you must also be below a certain income level depending on your household, but this varies on the state you live in.
In short, Medicaid is a great option to pay for a nursing home, but this is not always the case. There might be healthcare centers where they do not accept Medicaid, so if you cannot afford to pay it privately, the discharging process will continue.
You might also think that Medicare is also a good option but on the contrary. While it will pay for health services in the nursing home, it will only do it for a short time. For the first 20 days, Medicare will cover all expenses, and after that until 100 days, they will just cover a part of it and you have to cover the rest.