You've finally resolved the child care dilemma – or at least gotten it to a manageable arrangement.  But there’s a new, potentially even more challenging issue ahead - elder care - bringing with it situations and matters that you've probably never had to deal with before.  Nor could you have imagined the emotional difficulty and level of discomfort that dealing with these issues would bring to the entire family.  While difficult to do, most elder care advisors recommend talking to your elder family members about planning ahead, before a situation arises that could result in hasty decision-making or cause contention and disagreement within the family.

The importance of planning is made even more so by the increasing likelihood that the baby boomer generation may spend more years caring for elderly parents than they spend raising children.

You may have heard of the phrase “the sandwich generation”.   The financial and/or emotional responsibility for caring for both elderly parents and dependent children is what gives “the sandwich generation” its descriptive power.  Planning ahead will enable families to better address the wishes of their elders, provide higher quality of care, and lessen the financial burden and emotional anxiety for the entire family.

In General

• Who will be the principal caregiver?
• What involvement will siblings or other family members have?
• Which responsibilities can be shared? By whom?
  (Supervising medications, shopping, doctors, day care, etc.)
• Where are all the important documents, such as wills, insurance policies, power of attorney, trust documents, tax returns and banking records?

• When was the elderly person’s last physical?  What conditions does he/she have, if any?
• What did the doctor recommend that he/she do more/less of, avoid, and/or better monitor?
• What medications does he/she take? What are the dosages, time frames for taking them, and refill schedules?
• Is there a consolidated health history for him/her and is it easily accessible?  For your convenience, Enhanced Care Solutions provides the online, completely secure ECS Health & Medical Profile, an electronic, always-available record keeping system free of charge to our subscribing customers.   User access requires a login and password.  This helps the appropriate medical professionals get the information they need - when they need it - to provide better care in cases of emergencies or illness.

• Is Medicare or Medicaid adequate?
• Are there other insurance policies in place? What do they cover?
• Is there a prescription plan?

• What are the elderly person’s wishes for housing?
• Under what circumstances will he/she want to be, or accept being, in an assisted living facility or nursing facility?
• Does the family have a good idea of how much these facilities or other options cost?
• What services are available in the elder's community that can help him/her remain in his/her own home for as long as possible.  Such options include in-home assistance and home-modification services

• Is there a private pension? Where/how is it received?
• What is the social security amount? Where/how is it received?
• What other sources of income does he/she have, such as annuities, stocks, interest, IRA's, CD's, savings account?
• What are the debts such as mortgages, car payments?

• Is there a need to apply for Supplementary Security Income?

• Has anyone consulted an elder law attorney?
• Is there a living will, a will, a power of attorney, or a durable power of attorney that can be in effect in the event of incapacitation?
• Has the elderly person transferred any assets?
• What is the "time frame" in your state for transferring assets before being qualified for Medicaid?