Last week I talked about long term care insurance and Alzheimer’s disease. This week I would like to talk about long term care and mobility issues. Mobility issues are simply issues that deal with getting around. This can include transportation assistance and mobility assistance devices.
At some point in our lives, most of us will need help getting around. As we age our reaction times slow down, our eye sight weakens and our ability to operate a vehicle is diminished. Fortunately, there are home health agencies and social service organizations that can offer us a helping hand when we need a ride to the grocery store or to a doctor’s appointment. Unfortunately, most of these services cost money, and if you are on a fixed income the cost of these assistive services can limit your ability to get out and about.
While getting to outside destinations can be a challenge as you age, if you have physical mobility issues as well then you will be even more likely to require outside help. Not only will you need special transportation help to get you and your mobility assistive device to the places you need to go, you will also need help just getting around your own home. Some of the mobility related costs that you can incur as you age include: the cost of the mobility assistive devices, construction costs for making your home wheelchair accessible, home health care for bathing assistance and costs for transportation assistance.
While Medicare Part B will cover some of your mobility assistance costs, Medicare long term care insurance is not going to cover everything. One option that you have is to use a long term care health insurance policy to cover your mobility costs. Next week I will be talking about how you can use long term care policies to avoid needing a nursing home.
