Aging, like everything in life, comes with its own set of challenges. When seniors are suddenly unable to live their lives independently, the cost of bringing in caregivers or moving to assisted living communities and nursing homes becomes a crisis. Quickly the issue of finances becomes a great concern for many seniors and their families. The price of home healthcare assisted living, and nursing homes are ruthlessly growing each year and is only expected to increase. In 2024, we saw increases of up to 30%. This makes care that is necessary a considerable financial burden to many seniors and threatens to annihilate their entire life savings. Seniors dealing with serious and progressive health issues are looking for ways to meet their caregiving and medical needs while still preserving their hard-earned savings.
Sonja Kobrin, M.P.S., and her team at V.I.P. Care Management have been assisting families since 1993, helping them overcome the challenges of aging without sacrificing their life savings. Sonja’s mission is to educate, empower, and free elders and their loved ones from unnecessary stress and expenses. The foundation of V.I.P. Care Management is understanding that each family and each person requires solutions aligned with their unique needs and financial abilities. Sonja takes all that into account and provides people with invaluable information and solutions to help them make an informed decision.
It is a sad fact that many seniors seek out this information to defray the cost of care but often they seek guidance from people who do not specialize in this topic and who may erroneously tell them that they do not qualify, just because they have a certain amount of income or assets. There are so many myths and misconceptions about these programs and false information is dispensed by people who you would think would know about these valuable programs. Sonja spends her time educating other professionals such as accountants, financial planners, social workers, and even attorneys about Medicaid eligibility strategies to prevent false information from being decimated to seniors. Sonja points out that the laws and regulations change continuously, making it impossible for most people to keep up with all the updates. Too many seniors are spending their life savings needlessly based on the false information they’ve received.
Many adult children take on the financial responsibility of caring for their aging parents without understanding the potential consequences to their financial well-being, and without fully considering all options that might be available to them. Medicaid, a U.S. government-backed program, helps elders and their families provide the necessary care and living costs. However promising that sounds, most people assume they don’t qualify for these benefits and accept the financial burden themselves. Some seniors are hesitant to apply for government benefits while they still have resources because they feel guilty. Sonja educates them that if they apply for benefits while they still have resources and protect those funds, they won't be completely indigent and without options. Some government benefits allow for asset protection because they realize that the State does not cover every need that an elder may have. The protected assets can be used to pay for services that the government does not pay for.
Medicaid applications are rejected for many reasons, the most common one is simply too much wealth. Whether that’s a continuous income or a savings account, there are specific requirements that have to be met. What most people don’t realize is that there are allowable financial protection solutions. Many of these options require legal documentation so V.I.P. Care Management refers to qualified, licensed attorneys to draft the documents and give legal advice when needed. All asset protection strategies used to become eligible for Medicaid are included in the application and fully disclosed. Everything that is advised by the attorney is completely legal and allowable within the Medicaid 5-year look-back period.
Touched by many tragic stories she's heard, Sonja provides families with the necessary information, enabling them to make an informed decision about the future of an elderly loved one. One of the saddest examples is when she met a daughter who was caring for her mother and had exhausted all of her mother's money and her own money paying for care because a social worker told her that she did not qualify for Medicaid. While many things can be done at the last minute to qualify for Medicaid, it is in everyone's best interest if advanced planning is done with a qualified professional.
“I think the most important thing to tell people is that these programs exist
and even if you have excessive income or assets, you can be helped to qualify. The difference between people who have protected their assets and those who have exhausted all of their finances is OPTIONS! People without assets are generally people without options.” expresses Sonja.
Sonja urges the importance of long-term planning. All financial decisions should be made while the senior still can understand what is being done. It’s important to prepare for the cost of elder care, in advance. Although planning the last decade of your life seems daunting, it will save a lot of misery for the entire family.
Media Contact
Name: Sonja Kobrin, M.P.S.
Email: [email protected]
