North Dakota’s Unreasonable Long Term Care Costs
Many North Dakotans are wondering how in the world are they supposed to live normally once the need for North Dakota long term care sets in? Most of them would like to go for the in-home care setting but the ongoing cost for this type of LTC is by far higher than the national average, so now they’re thinking about turning to relatives for care.
Statistics show that a big percentage of LTC recipients in North Dakota are depending on their children and spouses for care because they could not afford to get a home health aide to assist them. Home health aides in this state charge an hourly rate of $23 as opposed to the national average which is $19. That is a big difference since the growth rate of this LTC service in a period of six years was 6% while nationally it was only 1%.
Home health aides assist in-home care recipients with their activities of daily living (ADL) like eating, dressing, bathing, toileting, continence, and transferring. They do not, however, provide hands-off care or homemaker services which fall under the job description of a personal care assistant whom you can also find in a home health care agency. Homemaker services include cooking and meal preparation, housecleaning, washing clothes, and running errands to name some. For this kind of LTC, the in-home care recipient or his family will be charged $22 on an hourly basis.
Higher Levels of North Dakota Long Term Care
Earlier in this article it was mentioned that most North Dakotans are contemplating turning to their loved ones should they need care because they couldn’t afford to get professional help. Financial advisers say this may be done but it will have irreparable consequences in the future.
Long term care is a complex aspect of the health care industry which requires formal training. Before licensed nurses and caregivers are given their assignments in a nursing home, community-based LTC facility or in a home health care agency they have to pass federal and state criteria so this only goes to show how serious a job this is. LTC providers should be emotionally, physically and mentally prepared for the work that awaits them lest they be accountable for the sufferings of their patients.
Research has shown that individuals who have been compelled to take care of their loved ones despite their unpreparedness have eventually developed serious health conditions and they are now at risk of requiring LTC.
Aside from pushing a loved one into developing unpleasant health problems, an individual who chooses to depend solely on his family for care is also depriving himself of quality LTC. Once he has gotten used to the routine care which he is receiving at home he wouldn’t know what to do in the event that he would require nursing home care because he is emotionally and financially unprepared for it.
North Dakota long term care is, indeed, expensive but there are many ways to plan for it. Don’t wait for the day that you’ll need it, instead, contact a financial adviser or an elderly care specialist to help you work out a good plan of action.
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