Planning Ahead Before age 50
It’s never too early to start planning for your long-term care. If you’re less than 50, there are just a few simple things that you should know and can do today, that will make tomorrow a whole lot easier.
Things You Should Know
- Medicare only pays for long-term care if you require skilled services or rehabilitative care and Medicare does not pay for non-skilled assistance with Activities of Daily Living (ADL), which make up the majority of long-term care services. Read the section on Medicare for more information.
- Long-term-care is more expensive than you may think and you will likely be responsible for paying for the care you will require. Start thinking about how you will pay for the care you may need. Refer to the Costs & How to Pay section for further information.
- By obtaining an Advanced Care Directive you can inform your family or loved ones about how to make important health decisions for you, should you no longer be able to make those decisions for yourself. Consult the Advance Care Plan Considerations page for more information.
Things You Can Do
- Plan how you will pay for care:
- Obtain an Advanced Care Directive: Advanced Care Plan Considerations
- Learn how you may be able to reduce some risks to your brain: brainhealth.gov
