The Final Option
In previous posts (Funding Long-Term Care ) we have been discussing the ways to pay for extensive palliative care...i.e. that is, when the patient is no longer improving, but is slowly declining, and is losing functionality, such as the ability to feed one's self, to use the toilet, bathing, etc. These things in themselves are not immediately life threatening, as long as assistance is provided by someone else. This level of care is quite expensive, but the bills must be paid in order for the care to continue. There are three ways to pay for this type of care:
1. Long-term care insurance
2. Self funding
3. Government assistance (Medicaid)
In the past two posts we've considered options 1 and 2. Both of these alternatives require some level of available funds, either in the ability to afford LTC insurance premiums, or to shoulder the costs yourself.
The third option is the last-resort scenario; the use of government assistance in the form of Medicaid.