Caregiver Tip of the Month
— Tax Deductions for Medical Care —
(a timely reminder originally published in our February 2005 issue)
Facility-Based Care. All nursing homes, most assisted living facilities, and some independent living facilities (usually those that are part of a continuing care retirement community) provide some medical services for their residents. According to the Internal Revenue Code (Section 213), a portion of the fees paid to the facilities may qualify as a tax-deductible medical expense. The tax-deductible portion is often referred to as the medical care component. It applies even if a resident is not living in the facility primarily for medical reasons.
Early each year, each facility should provide its residents with a written statement that shows the medical care component. If your (or your loved one's) facility has not done so by mid-February, ask them to prepare the statement for you. You'll need it before you can finish filling out your (or your loved one's) tax returns.
Financial Support. If you provide more than half of your loved one's financial support, even if they live in their own home, you may be able to claim them as a dependent on your federal income tax return, and possibly deduct some of their medical expenses. See a qualified tax accountant for more guidance regarding the IRS requirements.
If your mother and/or father moves into your home, you might also qualify for a tax-deduction, regardless of whether you do or don't modify your home to accommodate them.
If you do modify your home, at least a portion of the expenses you incur for modifying your home COULD be deductible in the year you pay them. (FYI: Section 213 defines tax-deductible medical and dental expenses.) Whether you actually can deduct those expenses depends upon many variables including:
1. Does your mother or father qualify as your dependent for tax purposes?
2. Is your tax accountant intimately familiar with Section 213 as it pertains to qualified long-term care expenses? Or, can he or she read the Internal Revenue Code just as well as anyone else? (You want the first type of accountant!)
For more insight as to what the IRS rules are (including the definition of a dependent for tax purposes), Section 213 is explained in IRS Publication 502 (to see it, simply click on the underlined link – it may take a few minutes to download if you use a dial-up connection).
If any of these situations might apply to you, we highly recommend that you discuss them with a qualified tax accountant.
Our visitors ask ...
Q. My husband takes care of his father full time and we would like to go away for 2 weeks. Are there any assisted care facilities that take the elderly in for just a short time? I live in Santa Clarita which is in Los Angeles County in California. My father-in-law said he would rather go to a facility for our time away than have someone come stay with him in his home. Can you help us?
A. Many assisted living facilities offer what you are looking for, that is, respite care. Respite, a break for caregivers and families, is a service in which temporary care is provided to a child or adult with disabilities, or chronic or terminal illnesses, and to persons at risk of abuse and neglect. Respite can occur in out-of-home and in-home settings for any length of time, depending on the needs of the family and available resources. Check out the ARCH National Respite Network's website. Use their National Respite Locator Service to locate respite services; it's at the bottom of their web page at www.RespiteLocator.org. If their web site is not helpful, call several assisted living facilities near you.
Daily Living Solutions
— products for seniors —
As we grow older, it often becomes difficult to use many everyday products because of arthritis and other conditions. If you or a loved one needs a little help – or a lot – we've selected a group of practical and affordable solutions from our affiliated merchants to help overcome those limitations.
Whether you are looking for yourself, or to help an elderly senior continue living in their own home, you'll find a wide variety of supplies and accessories – raised toilet seats, safety rails, incontinence supplies, large-handle eating utensils, pain relief, diabetic supplies, pill splitters and crushers, big-button telephones, canes, walkers, rollators, wheelchairs – and much more.
Everything is sorted into convenient categories in our Solutions for Seniors section.
Our visitors ask ...
Q. My friend had told me about Elder Care. My mother lives in N.Y.C. and I was wondering if Elder Care provides any kind of help with paying for prescription drugs? My mother's prescription drugs cost her about $500.00 a month. If they don't, do you know any other company I could look into that would be able to help my mother?
A. If she is age 65 or older, she is probably eligible for Medicare's new Part D Prescription Drug program regardless of her health condition. You can find more information on our page Medicare Prescription Drugs.
If she is younger than 65, and meets the low-income financial requirements, some drug manufacturers offer free or steeply discounted medications.
Caregiving – Finding the money for care at home
A variety of resources can help pay for care at home. We discuss these resources in some detail in our article 12 tips to help you find money (and free resources) for care at home.
Our visitors ask ...
Q. Can you tell me if Senile Dementia is the same as Alzheimer's Disease?
A. Alzheimer's Disease is just one of many types of senile dementia. While various types of dementia have different underlying causes, they produce the same gradual decline in mental abilities. If you click on Stages of Alzheimer's Disease, published by the Alzheimer's Association, you will see a thorough description of each of the seven stages of decline.
You should also be aware that many curable health conditions (Vitamin B12 deficiency, dehydration, depression, etc.) are often misdiagnosed as dementia because it's an easy, convenient diagnosis. Unfortunately, it can condemn a patient to a permanent decline whereas if the true condition were correctly identified, the patient may recover and once again enjoy life. For more information about symptoms of the major medical conditions which affect the elderly, visit our page, Age Dementia Symptoms. As you'll see, we discuss much more than just Dementia and Alzheimer's disease.
Caregiver Tip #2
— How to find the right doctor —
Finding the right doctor for your elderly loved one can be quite difficult. Many are too young to understand the needs of elders, others have staffs who are impatient with older people and their family caregivers, others don't return phone calls, and others are clueless despite the fact that most of their patients are elderly.
Call around to nursing homes and assisted living centers and talk to their nurses. Ask them for recommendations for good doctors – ones who specialize in geriatrics and have a good bedside manner. That's exactly the approach oldsters need. They listen to their patients and acts on what their caregivers observe while still being kind and respectful to them. Nurses tend to know the good ones.
Talk to your senior. This isn't always possible, but it's best to allow them as much independence as circumstances permit. Remember that the caregiver's role is to help them maintain as much control over their lives as feasible, not take it away; this includes allowing them to make their own decisions unless the decisions become harmful to them. The more you can consult with them, consider their desires, and truly respect them, the smoother the transition in your relationship will be.
Our visitors ask ...
Q. I need to know if there is one resource that would be able to assist in transporting my 87 year old mother who is unable to sit or stand for very long from a rural town in Kansas to Newark, New Jersey airport and then to Hackensack, NJ. This would probably involve an ambulance on both ends and a non-stop flight out of Wichita or Salina, most likely on a gurney. She is not ill and does not have any chronic diseases. But, she has pain from a back condition, osteoporosis and is more or less incontinent with a female condition. She can walk slowly but tires easily and would not be up to an air flight as a regular passenger. She is coming East to live with me permanently. The problem is how to get her here. Can you help me find a way?
A. We suggest that you contact an air ambulance firm. You can find them listed under "Ambulance" in your Yellow Pages. At least 2 also have websites, www.flyambu.com and www.medjets.com. Both (according to their ads) offer bedside to bedside service.
Recommended Reading and Videos
Many excellent books and videos can help guide you through the caregiving process. For our recommendations, including a brief description of each one, click here.
For more helpful information from our website, click here. To see previous issues of this newsletter, click on Archives.
Aging Solutions is a free service of:
Solutions for Seniors, Inc.
1051 E HILLSDALE BLVD
FOSTER CITY, CA 94404
Your comments or suggestions for future issues are always welcome; email them to us at editor@aging-parents-and-elder-care.com
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