He reported back to me about a week later, in desperation: I am giving up, I am too confused. He had taken on an overwhelming project with his widowed mother, living in another state. As the only child, and following the sudden death of his father, it was his responsibility to care for his mother.

Protecting your parents assets and health is a huge and daunting undertaking, which requires a tremendous amount of education and practical application. Our seniors face many diverse responsibilities upon reaching age 65. To name just a few: Estate planning, taxation, Medicare, social security, wills, insurance, and various other legal and financial matters. All of these different areas require expertise from accountants, lawyers, estate planners, insurance agents, home brokers, financial advisors, and others.

Twenty years ago, insurance for elders was sold by senior insurance specialists, with just a handful of companies in each state. The programs were most often Medic gap or Medicare supplemental policies, which covered the expenses not covered by Medicare, including hospital and doctor deductibles, durable medical devices, and no approved Medicare costs. Ironically these specialists did not sell a lot of nursing care policies, even though Medicare paid a national average of less than 2% of these expenses. With the advent of financial and estate planning and more insurance companies entering this market, a broader and diversified product line became available to agents, brokers, planners, and seniors.

Part of this new diversification was the home health care plan, sold by itself, and in conjunction with senior health insurance products. The appeal of the home health care policy was that a senior could stay at home and still receive medical and custodial benefits, allowing a person to recuperate in the comfort of their own home.

This was the answer to a huge problem. The last place an older person wanted to go was a retirement home, or rest home, or, God forbid, the nursing home. It appeared that seniors could now rely on this new innovation without worry of having to move out of their home environment in the event of a health problem.

As with most things, if it is too good to be true. The home health care policy is no exception. The problem is there is not enough coverage for a lengthy illness or recuperation time. The fact is the new trend is toward an all in one type facility, allowing for a variety of levels of care all in one location. In other words a senior could start off with little or no health care concerns in an independent, less expensive area, and then go to an assisted living, or nursing care facility, all within the same compound.