| No one ever expects to get a call at work letting you know that your 54-year-old mother was lying unconscious on the bedroom floor. Things like this don’t happen until your parents are older. Sadly, this is what happened to my assistant, Bobby. He was 30 years old, had reached a new stage in his career, and was planning a new phase in life. Suddenly, his mother had a stroke, leaving her left side paralyzed forever. She was perfectly healthy, active, looked ten years younger than she was, got regular checkups, and still the unexpected — a stroke, leaving her in need of a permanent caregiver. Unfortunately, they found themselves challenged with many struggles in pursuing the help she needed in and out of the hospital. The first issue they met was not having legal authority as her decision maker or being her power of attorney. It’s a process that took them several months, and they are filing a pile of documents and claims. To further complicate matters, she lost her ability to communicate, and without having a designated power of attorney for health and property and his mother unable to speak for her son, Bobby didn’t have the authority to act on her behalf for her medical care, the VA and rehab to learn to speak, swallow and physical therapy. Gaining the necessary help after experiencing a life event is extremely difficult. It leaves loved ones with few options to respond and react quickly to aid those who need and require immediate help. The result can be costly in keeping expensive legal counsel. Luckily, his family used VA benefits. They coordinate for a morning caregiver to provide bathing and dressing three times a week. Bobby didn’t know about long-term care insurance and believed caregiving is covered through health insurance and Medicare. Therefore, it was a brutal way to learn during a crisis when it was too late to correct. They discovered they lacked the knowledge about their health benefits and the need for long-term care insurance. Being better educated about this complex subject would have prepared them and given his mother more extended rehab benefits so that she might have gained better outcomes. This tragic disaster was a struggle for the whole family, and Bobby had to make many sacrifices to take care of his mother for months before help was finally given. If tragedy strikes at a young age, you have to be disabled for two years before you qualify for Medicare. And social security takes a long time to kick in as well. Long-term care insurance would have also aided them in covering home health care and adult day care facilities to reduce the burdens for Bobby and his family members, who lost valuable time for work early every day, resulting in a loss of business and income. Let’s not forget the benefits of Disability insurance that protects lost income due to an accident or injury. You never know when these things can happen. So, it’s essential to be prepared for a situation like this because if you aren’t, you’ll quickly find that your options are limited after a tragedy strikes, and there may be no one to take care of you. Safeguard your family and prepare yourself and your loved ones for anything life throws at you. Start with Your Family’s Essential Resource Workbook. Gather your important documents now and decide who you would like to make decisions for you if you can’t make them for yourself. |
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Do you want to give Peace and Mind to your Family? If YES, learn about a vital family tool – Your Family’s Essential Emergency Workbook: How to Gather and Organize Valuable Documents.A workbook designed with three essential sections on “Yourself,” Your Loved Ones,” and “Your Legacy.”ORDER yours TODAY |
Eleonore D Weber, CLTC
Author, Disability, Health, Life, Long-Term Care, and Medicare Insurance solutions!
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