What is Long-Term Care?

There are a lot of misconceptions about long-term care. Long-term care includes both assistance with daily living (for example: bathing, dressing, eating, housework, shopping) and skilled medical care. According to the Administration for Community Living, 70% of people turning age 65 will need to use some form of long-term care during their lives. Poor diet and exercise habits can increase your chances of needing long-term care. 

Medicare only pays for short term (less than 100 days) medically necessary care and rehabilitation. Medicare does not pay for personal care- such as assistance with daily living or for supervision (often called custodial care). Twenty percent of today's 65 year-olds will need long-term care for longer than 5 years. 

Medicaid may pay for long term care, but it is only available for people with low income. Medicaid eligibility rules vary from state to state. For more information about Medicaid in Florida, click here. For more information on how to plan for long-term care, please visit the longtermcare.gov website.

Taking Care - a PBS Long-Term Care Series

PBS NewsHour has launched “Taking Care” - a series of six reports on the challenges of long-term care. The first one aired on May 30th and the video is provided below. It is a video profile of Mary Wyant. You can find supplemental information about the broadcast and links to Alzheimer resources here.


 

 

Watch A Mother and Daughter Portrait Of Long-Term Care on PBS. See more from PBS NewsHour.

Long Term Care Information

The National Clearinghouse for Long Term Care Information defines long term care as "a range of services and supports you may need to meet your health or personal needs over a long period of time. Most long-term care is not medical care, but rather assistance with the basic personal tasks of everyday life ...." These tasks may include help with: bathing, dressing, eating, housework, or shopping. Nearly 70% of people age 65 and above need long term care. 
 
Medicare does not pay for long term care. As a result, it is important to plan ahead, because paying for long term care can be very expensive.The National Clearinghouse for Long Term Care provides a lot of information to help you plan for long term care. It also has links to organizations that can provide assistance to caregivers. Click here for more information.

National Family Caregivers Month

President Obama proclaimed November as National Family Caregiver's Month. The National Family Caregivers Association defines family caregiving as "... the act of assisting someone you care about who is chronically ill or disabled and who is no longer able to care for themselves."   President Obama stated that:

"Currently, a variety of programs and services offer help and encouragement to family caregivers. The National Family Caregiver Support Program and the Lifespan Respite Care Act include important resources for caregivers of children and adults, with opportunities to receive much-needed assistance and take part in support programs with other families."

 Here is a list of excellent websites that provide caregiving information:

• Caregiver's Resources from USA.gov 
  
• Family Caregiving 101
• AXA Foundation Family Care Resource Clearinghouse - caregiving resources are listed by topic or by keyword and each one is rated using a four star system.
• Medicare Basics for Caregivers
• Family Caregiver Alliance
• National Clearinghouse for Long-term Care Information
• Caregiver Support Information from Healthfinder.gov
• Planning Checklists for Caregivers
• Alzheimer's Association

These websites help you to search for residential care facilities or respite help:

• National Respite Locator Service
• Assisted Living Information from MedlinePlus
  
• Nursing Home Search 

  These websites help you to find government benefits:

• Benefits Checkup
• Gov Benefits

The Area Agency on Aging of Pasco-Pinellas is a local agency which provides:

• a caregiver handbook
• respite care
• caregiver counseling
• chore services
• medical supplies, such as nutritional supplements
• a senior helpline (1-800-963-5337 for local calls or 1-727-217-8111 for out of area)