Addressing Women’s Long Term Care in Maryland

In compliance with the government’s efforts to reduce Medicaid spending, many elderly folks who have been receiving care in Maryland nursing homes through Medicaid coverage have been either released to their homes or to community-based Maryland long term care (LTC) facilities.

Women were greatly affected by the Medicaid funding cutbacks since more than two-thirds of the women in Maryland nursing homes are relying on Medicaid. Now these former nursing home residents continue to receive Medicaid coverage but in a totally new setup.

Those who chose their homes over an assisted living facility are provided with home health aide services, while those who went for an assisted living facility are experiencing an environment which encourages independence and social activities to promote one’s well-being.

Assisted living facilities, however, are not so different from nursing homes as these also provide assistance with the activities of daily living (ADLs), three meals a day, laundry service, transportation, medication administration, recreational activities, and special amenities such as a library, salon, and the like.

Though most assisted living facilities do not provide 24-hour care and monitoring which nursing homes do, most of them have a 24-hour emergency call system.

At present, the national median annual rate of an assisted living facility in Maryland is $39,600 according to the 2011 Cost of Care Survey which was conducted by Genworth Financial. Meanwhile, Marylanders receiving in-home care pay a home health aide an hourly rate of $21 on the average.

Home health aides are responsible for providing custodial care specifically assistance with ADLs such as eating, bathing, dressing, use of toilet, continence, and transferring or walking among others. Unfortunately, not everyone receiving in-home care through Medicaid only requires custodial care. There are many suffering from serious health disorders and need medical care but they can’t make demands simply because they are on Medicaid.

Why Invest in Maryland Long Term Care

Maryland boasts top of the line nursing homes that can even serve as a perfect alternative to hospitals that specialize in chronic illnesses. These institutional LTC facilities, however, will require a chunk of money and rarely have you heard of a person who only stayed in a nursing home for a year so it is pointless to say you’ll set aside a budget for a year’s stay in a nursing home.

Nursing homes in Maryland have a median annual rate of $89,972 for private rooms. These institutional LTC facilities provide custodial and medical care so Marylanders who are genetically predisposed to an acute or a chronic illness should definitely plan their possible entry into a nursing home.

According to professional nurses the average length of stay of elderly folks in a nursing home is three years, but those with Alzheimer’s usually require care for as long as 10 years.

To be able to attain quality nursing home care in Maryland you have to cross out Medicaid from your list of options and start looking into real plans that provide LTC coverage. Long term care insurance (LTCI), for instance, is one important product you should be considering because it does not only provide extensive LTC coverage but asset protection, as well.

Maryland long term care is not unlike what is offered in U.S. states, it just happens to be more expensive than others because it gives you your money’s worth.