The basic point of this Wall Street Journal article on “The Cost of Living Longer” is: “People who identify the specific services their loved ones need, haggle aggressively on price and explore alternative-care options can save money—or at least get more care for the money they do spend, experts say.”
One alternative-care option mentioned in the article is “buying a medication-monitoring system rather than pay for a nurse to do so, a service that costs $347 a month on average, according to MetLife. The website e-pill.com offers several different choices.”
One care option not mentioned in the article is home care. The article’s author seems to not be aware that there’s a difference between “home care” and “home health (care).” The term “home health” refers to a skilled need from a healthcare professional. The term “home care” refers to hands-on personal care and light housekeeping. There are lots of home care agencies out there; they are not closely regulated like the home health agencies are.
IMPORTANT! When considering options for home care agencies, home health agencies, adult day care, assisted living facilities, care consultants and geriatric care managers, look in to the organizations or individuals who attended educational conferences on the disorder of interest.
Here’s a link to the article:
online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203937004578079184108523030.html
FAMILY FINANCES
Wall Street Journal
The Cost of Living Longer
By Kelly Greene
October 26, 2012, 5:12 p.m. ET
Robin