The National Council on Aging (NCOA) provides a web site called BenefitsCheckup.org that can help older Americans determine if they are missing out on benefits. The site helps older Americans find out about federal, state and local assistance programs for the aged.
Caring for an elder relative is not only a lot of effort, emotionally and physically, but it can also have a major financial impact on the elder, and their family, as well.
Money is an important ingredient when looking for caregiving choices and more of it is better than less. Options for help with caregiving may be free or may cost many thousands of dollars per month. Free sounds like the way to go and services such as meals-on-wheels, transportation, visiting nurse, homemakers, to name some, may have programs in your area. However it is often the case that so many people need the service that the waiting list will be so long that it is effectively not available. This is why agencies that charge abound. Without them I do not know how millions of our elders would cope.
There are a myriad of programs and agencies that have assistance available. Medicaid and SSI are two huge and well-known Federal programs. But many of us who have worked hard and saved for decades will not meet their strict income and asset limitations. So what are we to do? It is impossible be an expert about what help is available because there are so many programs, and so much variance from area to area, that being effective when searching on our own is very difficult, if not impossible.
The National Council on Aging has realized the magnitude of the problem and has come up with a very easy-to-use tool that can effectively guide us in the search. The BenefitsCheckup.org web site can help you to become a benefits expert for your loved one. The site will not ask you to identify yourself or your loved one but it will ask for a lot of information, and I mean a lot. But please do not let this deter you. The BenefitsCheckup system will digest all of the information you input, and then compare it to federal, state, local, and private resources for which your elder may be eligible.
As professional care mangers, we, on many occasions, found assistance that added up to more than $2,000 a month in value. Of course this is not typical, but it is often typical to find some assistance that will be a help.
Go to www.benefitscheckup.org to learn more about how to find out what assistance may be available to help you.
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