Which services and settings are right for you depend on your preferences, how much assistance you need, and what resources you have. Private geriatric care managers or your local Area Agency on Aging can help you determine what types of services you may need. This evaluation is called a functional assessment. Private agencies may charge a fee for these assessments; be sure to ask about any cost or fees up front.

Planning in advance for potential long-term care needs gives you the most options for meeting them. Talk with your family about what your preferences are, how you would provide and pay for the care and services you may need, including whether or not long-term care insurance or other financial/investment tools can help.

Long term care can be very expensive. Some people mistakenly believe that Medicare, other government programs or private standard insurance policies will pay for their care. Medicaid is the long term care payer of last resort.

You may need to depend on Medicaid if you have no resources or if you have used up what resources you had to pay for long term care. It’s important to know that persons who have given away income or resources within three years or set up or transferred assets to a trust within five years of applying for Medical Assistance for long term care and services may not be eligible for benefits for a period of time.