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The Honolulu Advertiser

Posted on: Sunday, December 12, 2004

Coping with cost of care

Ralph Matsuda, a retired financial planner, offers his expertise in free workshops for the elderly. He says the cost of long-term care often catches people by surprise.

Richard Ambo • The Honolulu Advertiser

 •  Elder care saps finances
 •  Discuss crucial issues while they're able
 •  It's your funeral, so plan the details yourself
 •  Many put off getting legal affairs in order
 •  Workers need time for care of elderly
 •  Resources for seniors
 •  The experts
 •  Cost of golden years
 •  Social security

By Deborah Adamson
Advertiser Staff Writer

When Gloria Zane got more involved in caring for her ailing parents three years ago, she was surprised to discover the sad state of their finances.

"They were running $780 a month negative," the Hawai'i Kai resident said.

Her dad's Social Security and pension income of $1,500 a month was too small to cover rent, food, medical and other expenses. So her father, a retired security guard, and her mother, a housewife, drew from their savings until they had just a few thousand left.

Zane's mother has since died and her 84-year-old father, who has dementia, can't afford a care home. Zane found family friends who have taken him in for $1,000 a month. If he needs more professional care, the responsibility will likely fall to Zane and her siblings.

"Care homes cost $2,500 a month," said Zane, 57. "He doesn't have that much money."

Saving enough to cover your expenses in old age has always been a challenge. Many seniors find they reach a point where they can't afford the care they need without help.

The steep cost of long-term care catches many seniors by surprise, said Ralph Matsuda, a retired financial planner who teaches a free financial workshop for the elderly. He began reaching out to seniors after his father's nursing home bill put a big strain on his family's finances.

"I'm shocked to find people coming in and saying, 'What? I didn't know it costs so much!' " the 79-year-old Honolulu resident said. "They assume that Medicaid will take care of it. They don't realize that Medicaid is welfare."

Long-term care costs can get pretty hefty, starting with housing.

Nursing homes start at about $230 a day or $7,000 a month in Hawai'i, with additional rehabilitation services costing extra. The frailest seniors who need the most comprehensive chronic care check into nursing homes.

Adult residential care homes, or facilities that take in small groups of seniors, charge less but many don't offer skilled nursing care. They typically cost at least $2,000 a month.

Assisted-living facilities, generally for independent seniors who may need a few services such as laundry and meal preparation, cost an average of $3,112 a month in Honolulu, according to a survey by Met Life.

Retired actor James Carroll, 87, lives at such a facility — The Plaza at Punchbowl. For a two-bedroom, two-bathroom unit, he pays $4,750 a month. Sprightly and cheery, the visually impaired senior can live by himself. The Plaza makes his life easier by cooking and cleaning for him.

He's paying for the apartment out of his savings and hopes it will last.

"Statistically, I should be ready to finish," Carroll said. But then, "my great-grandpa lived to be 107."

For seniors who live with family members and only need to be watched during the day, one option is an adult daycare centers. Prices start at about $50 a day. An adult day healthcare center, which provides nursing supervision and rehabilitation services, costs at least $75 a day.

If the senior prefers to stay home, hiring a personal care assistant can cost between $11 and $15 an hour while on the high end, a registered nurse charges at least $25 an hour.

James Carroll, a retired actor, reads Shakespeare with UH student Joseph Tomita. Carroll's apartment in an assisted-living facility includes cooking and maid service in its monthly fee.

Rebecca Breyer • The Honolulu Advertiser

Another option is adult foster homes, residences that provide nursing-homeilevel care for one or two seniors at each house and cost about $2,500 and up a month. These homes are for seniors who cannot afford nursing homes or prefer less institutionalized care.

Getting assistance

So where can seniors turn for financial help?

Medicare, a federal program that provides health insurance to seniors age 65 and over regardless of income, pays only for the first 20 days of nursing home care. But you must be hospitalized for at least three days beforehand and a doctor must verify that you need rehabilitation after hospitalization. For the next 80 days, you pay $114 day (for 2005) and Medicare covers the rest. There is no coverage after 100 days.

If you buy Medicare supplemental insurance, offered through most insurers, it covers your $114 co-payment.

Medicaid is a state-run healthcare program for the poor, which does pay for long-term nursing home care. But it's not easy to qualify.

If you're single, you cannot have more than $2,000 in assets, excluding your main residence, cars, funeral plan, burial plot and other personal items, according to Med-QUEST, a division in the state Department of Human Services that administers Medicaid. Medicaid also may place a lien on your house.

If you're married, you can qualify only if your spouse has less than $95,100 in assets, not including the primary residence, cars and a few other items. If your spouse dies first, the assets are transferred back to you. You have to find a way to whittle your eligible assets to $2,000.

In addition, your monthly income — say from Social Security and a pension — must be less than your monthly medical expenses if you're institutionalized. If you're not in an institution, your income cutoff is $912 a month if you're single, and $1,217 if you're married. If your income exceeds the limit, you must have enough medical expenses to reduce your income to $418 a month if you're single and $565 if you're married.

If you prefer to receive care at your house or at an adult residential care home, apply to Medicaid's waiver programs — such as Nursing Home Without Walls and Residential Alternative Community Care. However, there may be a waiting list.

If you think you can simply transfer your assets to your children and qualify for Medicaid, guess again. The state takes a dim view of people who purposely hide assets to get on the system — you could be rejected.

A waiting game

Jane Higa, 75, of Palama knows firsthand how tricky it can be to qualify for Medicaid.

Her elderly father was hospitalized for three weeks and was about to be discharged, but he was too frail to go back home. The family didn't have money to pay for a nursing home, so they left him at the hospital at a cost of $500 a day. After 2› weeks, his savings were depleted.

Higa applied for Medicaid, but she had to wait six months before her father was approved. In the meantime, the senior citizen was transferred to a nursing home, which took his Social Security paycheck. Higa said she couldn't pay the facility, but her father was allowed to stay until Medicaid kicked in.

"You fill out the form and wait," she said.

Grace Kam is counting on government benefits given to veterans to pay for nursing home care, should she need it in the future.

Her husband, a veteran, passed away 29 years ago.

"Right now I'm not ready for it, for a nursing home," said the 83-year-old as she leaned on a cane. When she is ready, "I hope I can get some help."

But the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs provides only limited nursing home care — and only to veterans, not spouses.

For the VA to pay for a nursing home, a veteran needs to be moderately to severely disabled and the ailment must have occurred during active duty, said Fred Ballard, a VA spokesman. The VA rates the level of disability; to qualify, a rating of 70 percent to 100 percent is required.

Your employer, unless it's the federal government, won't be much help when it comes to paying for long-term care.

Businesses generally don't offer long-term-care insurance. And health insurance doesn't typically cover long-term-care costs for chronic conditions.

If you can't qualify for government aid, the last resort is to try to pay for long-term care yourself.

Buy coverage early

An increasingly popular option is to buy long-term-care insurance, if you can qualify and can afford it. Monthly premiums vary widely, depending on your level of coverage, age, health, gender and other factors. In general, the earlier you buy the insurance, the less expensive it is.

For a 40-year-old nonsmoker in good health, State Farm charges a premium of $100 a month on a long-term-care policy that would pay $250 a day for three years. There is a 90-day waiting period before benefits kick in. Benefits increase by

5 percent per year to account for inflation. The same policy for a 50-year-old would cost $119 a month. At age 65? $282 a month. For a 70-year-old, it's $460 a month.

Make sure the insurance company is financially strong so it'll be around in 20 or 30 years when you need your benefits. Check its credit rating as compiled by companies such as A.M. Best, Moody's, Standard and Poor's, and Fitch.

Tom Oshiro and his wife bought long-term-care insurance through the Hawaii Government Employees Association.

The 64-year-old bought the insurance two years ago after being rejected when he approached insurers himself. Oshiro's health problems disqualified him from many policies, but the union's plan accepted every member at the time he applied.

Another option for seniors with equity in their home is the reverse mortgage.

A reverse mortgage is a loan that lets homeowners age 62 or older borrow against the equity without selling, giving up title or taking on a new monthly mortgage payment.

The loan can be taken out in a lump sum, fixed monthly payment, line of credit or a combination. The loan amount depends on the borrower's age, current interest rates and value and location of the home. The loan isn't repaid until the borrower moves out. Any remaining equity is given to the homeowner's heirs or estate.

Others like Higa, whose father eventually got help from Medicaid after a six-month wait, hope the government will step in when they run out of money. Higa says she can't afford long-term-care insurance and won't have enough in savings to pay for a nursing home. She's also not counting on her children to help her.

"We contributed (taxes) to the state," said Higa, "And I feel they should help us."

Reach Deborah Adamson at 525-8088 or dadamson@honoluluadvertiser.com.

• • •

SOCIAL SECURITY

Currently, 46 million Americans get Social Security. The number is expected to grow to more than 68 million by 2020. Last year, Social Security paid out nearly $471 billion.

Social Security has reduced the poverty levels of those aged 65 and older — from 35 percent in 1959 to 8 percent in 2000. The government estimates that 48 percent of the elderly would be poor now if Social Security didn't exist.

Under current benefits, average earners get 37 percent of their pre-retirement earnings in Social Security. Low-wage workers get 50 percent and high-wage workers get 30 percent.

Social Security is a pay-as-you-go system. Current workers' taxes pay for current retirees' benefits. In 1950, the ratio was 16.5 workers to 1 retiree. Today, it's 3.3 to 1 and is expected to drop to 2.2 to 1 by 2030. A falling fertility rate is thinning out the ranks of the workforce. In 1960, the fertility rate was an average of three children per woman. By 2030, it's expected to be 1.95 — below the level needed to replace the number of people dying.

The first baby boomers will be eligible for Social Security in 2008. A squeeze on the federal budget will begin as they start to retire.

Medicare, which is paid for with Social Security taxes, presents a much greater and more urgent fiscal challenge than Social Security due to rising healthcare costs. Medicare subsidizes healthcare and drug costs for seniors regardless of income.

Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid will grow to 15.6 percent of GDP in 2030 from today's 8.5 percent.