Consumer Guide to Long-Term Care

Entry into the long-term health care system often happens suddenly. A mental or physical breakdown seriously weakens you or your parents’ health, leaving you unable to cope with a host of complex decisions, rules, and information. Families must nevertheless make rapid, vital decisions about long-term care, often involving a nursing home. At the same time, new state laws and federal regulations make it nearly impossible for consumers to understand the rules of long-term care that apply in their case—let alone how to use them. Such traumatic situations often lead families into a state of chaos, confusion, and panic—until now.

Consumer Guide to Long-Term Care provides the first comprehensive guide to making decisions about nursing homes, home care, assisted living, and other options. It empowers consumers and their families, telling them how to protect their rights and advocate for a high standard of care and excellent quality of life. This essential reference offers key information, in one convenient source, on where to find the most up-to-date, accurate facts quickly and easily. Author Gary Ilminen takes the mystery out of such topics as managed care, prospective pricing, and bundled services. He explains how to deal with choosing a facility, paying for care, and other difficult issues, including the right to refuse care. Equipped with this book, you can make informed choices that ensure the best possible experience for yourself or a family member when long-term care becomes a necessity.