The financial side of long-term care can be a tricky maze with unexpected pitfalls.

By Beth Macy
published Sunday, Aug. 17, 2008

If growing old isn’t for sissies, as the saying goes, then neither is trying to help your spouse or parent navigate the frailties of late life.

The truth is sad but undeniable: Anyone who reaches the age of 65 stands a 2-in-3 chance of needing assistance with care for some stretch of time before death, according to the AARP . How do families manage the costs of arranging for their relatives’ long-term care?

Nationally, nearly two-thirds of nursing home residents rely on Medicaid, the federal program designed to provide health care for the indigent and disabled.

Many are genuinely impoverished, having depleted their assets to pay for nursing care, while others have orchestrated the so-called “Medicaid spend down” and shifted assets well in advance of their need for care.

The practice is legal but complex, and it requires documentation, planning and financial savvy.

“The key is to look at your options early on — before you’re grieving at the same time you’re faced with losing $5,000 to $6,000 a month on nursing care,” says Roanoke lawyer Ann McGee Green. “The earlier you take control of the process, the easier it will be to make sure your loved one is well cared for.”