Nevada Long Term Care

The Genworth's 7th Annual  Survey on Long Term Care Costs revealed some of the appalling facts about Nevada. The costs of most long term care services in Nevada are higher than the national figures, wherein the state's median annual rate for home care is $47,476 versus the national rate of $43,472. Nevada is the 5th state with high average private pay for adult care and 9th for Medicare-certified home health aide services, making Nevada the 17th most expensive state for home care services.

In another survey conducted by Genworth, most respondents, of about 78 percent, prefer home care settings; while18 percent chose assisted living and only 2 percent for nursing homes. In order to meet the preferred home care setting, families can spend around$43,091 per annum for home health aide. The costs for home health care services are intimidating for elders who wish to live independently and maintain quality life in their homes.

Older adults face problems in finding affordable health care services in both home and institutionalized facilities. In 2007, there were 69,065 adults age 50-64 who were uninsured due to the high costs of private insurance coverage. Moreover, 23 percent of Nevadans age 16-64 have no insurance coverage.

Medicaid finances most of state's health care expenses, and the majority of the budget is spent for nursing home care and assisted living for elders and people with disability. Older people with chronic conditions rely on Medicaid for their long term care needs. Although elders prefer to receive care in their homes, Medicaid allocates 66 percent of budget on nursing home care and only 34 percent is left for home care services. This brings discrepancy in the quality of services received in either home or nursing homes that makes it even more burdensome for adults to afford the high costs of long term care services in nursing home facilities. Adults have no means but care for themselves or have their families assist them.

In 2007, of the Medicaid beneficiaries in Nevada aged 65 and above, 21 percent lived close to the poverty line to become full-fledge recipient of Medicaid assistance. Those who were not eligible for the subsidy, 12 percent of adults fell under the "doughnut hole,"a term wherein a person had to pay for the costs of prescriptions for a portion of a year. There are about 16,000 people paying for prescription drugs for several months.   In 2008, there were 327,620 Medicaid recipients in Nebraska.

In January 2007, Nevada has come into partnership with the state and private insurance companies for the creation of the program called the Nevada Long-Term Care Partnership Program. TheNevada Long Term Care Insurance Partnershipwas established to help the residents of Nevada avail long term care services without depleting their assets and remain eligible for Medicaid assistance. Under the Nevada Long Term Care Partnership, the state will disregard the policyholder's assets when applying for a LTC policy. For example, the amount of policy that pays for $50,000 benefits can be equal to $50,000 of the person's assets that can be protected. This means the person would be able to qualify for Medicaid assistance without losing all of his/her assets.