If you think that a care conference for an elderly loved one is a meeting you can easily skip, Claire Merendino suggest that you think again. As one of the elder care coordinators at Bratton Law Group, a Life Care Planning Law Firm in New Jersey, Claire often runs into family members who don’t understand the purpose of these meetings.

By Linda Anderson, CELA

There’s a lot of talk about how divided we are as a nation. Racial, socioeconomic, and political affiliations are just a few of the flash points. Here’s something we often overlook as we’re demonizing the other: we have a few important things in common. No matter our race, gender, class, or political affiliation, we all going to age, and we're all going to die.

Long-term care costs a fortune. Genworth, a long-term care insurance provider that has been tracking the cost of long-term care, reports that costs have risen dramatically since they began tracking them in 2004. Families are often astounded when they find out how much long-term care can cost, especially when they learn that Medicare benefits are limited for these services. Unless the person has long-term care insurance, they will likely pay for this care out-of-pocket—from savings, home equity and, often, other family members’ assets.

Are you a Medicare beneficiary? Is your spouse, your parent, or another elderly loved one on Medicare? If the answer is YES, you need to know about Medicare’s Annual Wellness Visit. This is the one time each year when a Medicare beneficiary works with his or her physician to develop a personalized prevention plan and access Medicare’s free preventive screening services.