Who Needs Long Term Care in North Carolina?

Alzheimer’s disease or another form of dementia is the main cause of death in North Carolina. In fact, the elderly population with Alzheimer’s is expected to grow up to 210,000 14 years from now according to the statistics of elderly care specialists, thus North Carolina long term care is an important area to look into.

North Carolina is projected to land on the 19th slot and beat other states in terms of elderly population growth as the number of its residents aged 65 and older is growing at a speedy rate. As the state’s seniors get bigger in number, there will be a greater need for care.

From 2010 to the present year, the percentage of elderly North Carolinians receiving in-home care, and services offered by adult day care health centers and assisted living facilities grew by 22%. This figure can only get bigger as people are living longer these days.

Majority of the elderly receiving long term care (LTC) in North Carolina are on Medicaid but since the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid imposed a cutback on the funding for nursing homes, people who think they would need nursing home care in the future should start looking elsewhere.

Meanwhile, those individuals who are not receiving care via Medicald assistance are depending on their families. As a matter of fact, in 2009 unpaid care that was provided to people with Alzheimer’s had reached a whopping value exceeding $4,000,000,000.

Preparing for North Carolina Long Term Care

To ensure that you don’t end up like many others in North Carolina who are currently putting up with the limited care Medicaid is capable of providing them, start identifying your LTC needs so that you can work out a potential plan that will protect you financially and provide you access to topnotch care.

If you’re one of the 90% Americans who prefers to receive care at home, you can start inquiring about the services of home health care agencies. Commonly availed services from this type of care provider include home health aides, live-in caregivers, and homemaker services among others.

In North Carolina, the average hourly rate of a home health aide is $22 and her job is to provide the in-home care patient assistance with her activities of daily living (ADL) such as eating, bathing, dressing up, use of toilet, continence, and transferring.

Some home health care agencies are affiliated with home builders who specialize in modifying homes in a manner that is suitable for one who is aging in place. If this is what you have in mind, there are many companies to choose from in North Carolina.

Now if your family’s health history reveals that you are genetically predisposed to a debilitating illness, you’ll be doing yourself a big favor if you would acknowledge the potential need for skilled care. This type of LTC is usually provided in nursing homes, but some individuals who are aging in place are also receiving it from a licensed nurse who regularly visits them.

North Carolina long term care is definitely wide in scope but you have to be financially prepared so that neither you nor your family will end up impoverished in the future.