Retirement Planning 101: How To Access A Home Care Package

Retirement Planning 101: How To Access A Home Care Package : Have you just retired? Do you have a loved one who’s just retired? Retirement is something many people look forward to. It refers to a time in life when you minimize active working. Most states have an age that depicts retirement age, ranging from 62 to 65.

The retirement age comes with many needs. Some find it challenging to meet their needs independently and require assistance. Hence, as you plan for retirement, adding a home care package is important.

A home care package aims to support older adults in their homes, ensuring they live there as long as possible. The support surrounds household, gardening, transport, and personal needs. As an aged person, how do you access a home care package?

Here’s how to do it:

Check Your Eligibility

The question to ask is whether you qualify for a home care package. Not everyone qualifies for this program. The reason lies in the fact that there’s government funding involved. Hence, before starting the process, find out whether you qualify. You don’t want to undertake all other steps only to be told you don’t qualify.

There are assessment bodies whose purpose is to check the eligibility of candidates seeking aged care services. Find out the body meant for this purpose in your region. In addition to checking whether you qualify, they’ll categorize the type of care you need in terms of extent.

These categories range from level 1 to level 4. Low-care needs fall under levels 1 and 2 while high-care needs fall under levels 3 and 4.

During the process, the assessing body might send a social worker to your home to assess the situation. They’ll inquire about the aspects you’re experiencing difficulties with. This knowledge enables them to put you in the right category where all your needs are met.

After the assessment, the body will inform you of the eligibility online or will call to inform you.

Get A Suitable Home Care Provider

A home care provider is essential to getting a home care package. Through them, you’ll get access to government funding. Several home care providers offer these services. You want to vet each of them.

The ideal way to ensure successful vetting is by first identifying your needs. What services do you require from the provider? Do you need help bathing, dressing up, or nursing an injury? Have household chores become a burden? Is moving from one place to another challenging? If yes, these are the needs to write down. They’ll act like a checklist during the vetting process.

Next, find the available home care providers in your locality. An online search or seeking recommendations can make this process easier and faster. With the list of recommendations, check the qualifications of each provider. Are they certified? Do they have experience in the business? The aim is to get quality services that fully meet your needs.

Know The Costs Involved

Accessing a home care package involves certain costs here and there. It’s important to identify and understand each before seeking home care packages. Doing so enables you to plan your finances to ensure the process is a success in the short and long term.

As stated previously, there’s government funding with home care packages. Most governments will offer subsidies on the amount you’re supposed to pay. These subsidies vary in terms of the level of care you’re getting.

For example, in the United States, the level 1 category receives a subsidy of USD$9,179.75 per year, with level 2 receiving USD$16,147.60. Level 3 gets USD$35,138.55, and level 4 gets USD$53,268.10. It’s important to note that the subsidies keep changing. Therefore, do your due diligence and learn the current rates at the time of your application.

Basic daily and income-based fees are the other costs associated with home care packages. The basic daily fee is often a percentage of your age pension while income-based is calculated based on your income.

As you know about the associated costs, it’s essential to acknowledge that the costs you’ll incur also depend on the number of services you’ll receive.

Get Assigned A Home Care Package

The assigning of a home care package takes place sometime after the confirmation of your eligibility. There’s always a wait time between approval and assigning.

At this stage, the assessing body will notify you of the assigned package via a letter that has a referral code. Upon receipt of this, most states require to find a home care provider and get into an agreement within 56 days.

Get Into An Agreement

As stated previously, you have 56 days to get into an agreement with a home care provider. This stage involves negotiating with your chosen provider the services you’ll get based on your assigned home care package.

The provider will also disclose how they’ll offer their services, who’ll offer them, and how much they’ll be. Once you agree, you’ll sign a contract, and the home care services start.

Conclusion

From the discussion, accessing a home care package isn’t as challenging as it might have seemed. You don’t want additional stress after your retirement. With this in mind, the discussion focuses on guiding on accessing a home care package.

Therefore, adopting this guide in your search for a home care package will be an added advantage.