WEBVTT 00:00:00.300 --> 00:00:03.839 And here you go with part one of the Lightkeepers 00:00:03.839 --> 00:00:08.759 podcast shorts. Welcome to the Lightkeepers podcast. 00:00:08.880 --> 00:00:11.259 I'm Clayton Vandiver, your lightkeeper, with 00:00:11.259 --> 00:00:13.539 a show dedicated to everyone who wants to get 00:00:13.539 --> 00:00:17.059 the most quality out of life that they can. My 00:00:17.059 --> 00:00:20.780 co -host, as always, Charlene, our very own licensed 00:00:20.780 --> 00:00:23.239 clinical social worker, certified in the state 00:00:23.239 --> 00:00:26.600 of Florida. Hey, we invite you to join the conversation 00:00:26.600 --> 00:00:30.510 this week about different levels of care. and 00:00:30.510 --> 00:00:34.030 how to pay for them. And so much more on this 00:00:34.030 --> 00:01:07.489 edition of the Lightkeepers Podcast. Before we 00:01:07.489 --> 00:01:09.530 start, I'd like to invite you to please leave 00:01:09.530 --> 00:01:11.810 your questions or comments below. We always love 00:01:11.810 --> 00:01:14.049 to hear from you. Questions this week will be 00:01:14.049 --> 00:01:17.109 answered during our next show that appears online 00:01:17.109 --> 00:01:20.849 every Wednesday evening at 7 p .m. Eastern. The 00:01:20.849 --> 00:01:23.370 Light Keepers podcast is an exclusive production 00:01:23.370 --> 00:01:26.469 of A Guiding Light, Inc. We'll tell you more 00:01:26.469 --> 00:01:28.430 about A Guiding Light at the end of the podcast. 00:01:28.829 --> 00:01:30.650 But since we don't have much time, let's get 00:01:30.650 --> 00:01:34.510 right into the conversation. Hi, Charlene. Hello. 00:01:34.629 --> 00:01:36.909 Good to have you with us again tonight. Now, 00:01:36.950 --> 00:01:38.870 we're talking about different levels of care 00:01:38.870 --> 00:01:42.129 and how our listeners and viewers can pay for 00:01:42.129 --> 00:01:46.049 them. Before we worry about how to pay for them, 00:01:46.569 --> 00:01:49.250 tell us what different levels of care are there? 00:01:50.370 --> 00:01:54.170 So there are different levels of care based on 00:01:54.170 --> 00:01:58.030 what someone is capable of doing for themselves. 00:01:59.250 --> 00:02:04.189 For example, when you have someone who is older, 00:02:05.280 --> 00:02:09.039 You can have someone who is independent, meaning 00:02:09.039 --> 00:02:12.400 they can take care of themselves. You can have 00:02:12.400 --> 00:02:16.300 someone who might need a little bit of assistance. 00:02:17.000 --> 00:02:20.139 And if this is someone who can't live on their 00:02:20.139 --> 00:02:22.699 own, this is someone who would be appropriate 00:02:22.699 --> 00:02:25.020 for what's called an assisted living facility. 00:02:25.719 --> 00:02:28.180 Someone who is appropriate for an assisted living 00:02:28.180 --> 00:02:32.039 facility is still someone who can Get up on their 00:02:32.039 --> 00:02:34.419 own meaning, you know, they're able to get out 00:02:34.419 --> 00:02:37.800 of bed Maybe they need a little bit of help walking 00:02:37.800 --> 00:02:41.800 maybe with a walker Or maybe even with with a 00:02:41.800 --> 00:02:43.719 wheelchair, but they're able to get themselves 00:02:43.719 --> 00:02:47.280 in and out of the wheelchair on their own Now 00:02:47.280 --> 00:02:50.460 if you have someone who needs more assistance 00:02:50.460 --> 00:02:54.759 than that This is someone who would most likely 00:02:54.759 --> 00:02:57.759 be best served in what's called a skilled nursing 00:02:57.759 --> 00:03:02.860 facility, which some people know of as a nursing 00:03:02.860 --> 00:03:06.599 home. Or depending on what part of the country 00:03:06.599 --> 00:03:09.080 you live in, could also be known as an old folks 00:03:09.080 --> 00:03:15.659 home. This is a facility where someone goes that... 00:03:15.639 --> 00:03:18.479 Really needs a lot of help taking care of themselves. 00:03:18.699 --> 00:03:21.000 Maybe they can't get out of bed on their own 00:03:21.000 --> 00:03:25.000 Maybe they can't get out of bed at all You know, 00:03:25.000 --> 00:03:28.300 they're not able to dress themselves by themselves. 00:03:28.300 --> 00:03:31.180 They're not able to maybe they're not even able 00:03:31.180 --> 00:03:34.460 to feed themselves Well, that sort of gets into 00:03:34.460 --> 00:03:37.680 what I was going to ask what What really determines 00:03:37.680 --> 00:03:40.300 the level of care that you'll be receiving? I 00:03:40.300 --> 00:03:44.840 mean what qualifies you? So someone's own physical 00:03:44.840 --> 00:03:49.180 health really makes the determination, but a 00:03:49.180 --> 00:03:53.120 lot of times this level is decided by the medical 00:03:53.120 --> 00:03:56.500 community. For example, if someone goes to the 00:03:56.500 --> 00:04:02.129 hospital with an injury or with an illness, the 00:04:02.129 --> 00:04:05.689 hospital may discharge them into a skilled nursing 00:04:05.689 --> 00:04:10.409 facility for rehab and The discharging physician 00:04:10.409 --> 00:04:14.530 determines what level of care they need Now I 00:04:14.530 --> 00:04:18.170 have also seen some situations where a doctor 00:04:18.170 --> 00:04:21.370 has made the decision that this person is no 00:04:21.370 --> 00:04:24.689 longer safe to care for themselves at home and 00:04:24.689 --> 00:04:27.050 therefore they need to be discharged to live 00:04:27.050 --> 00:04:31.189 in a nursing home or a skilled nursing facility. 00:04:32.769 --> 00:04:35.470 While this is something that I would like to 00:04:35.470 --> 00:04:38.889 discuss in greater detail in a later show, I 00:04:38.889 --> 00:04:41.889 will take a moment to point out that while a 00:04:41.889 --> 00:04:44.209 doctor may make that recommendation, ultimately 00:04:44.209 --> 00:04:46.930 it is up to the family. So if the family decides 00:04:46.930 --> 00:04:50.050 that they have adequate care at home, then they 00:04:50.050 --> 00:04:53.970 can still take that person home. But it would 00:04:53.970 --> 00:04:59.569 be the medical professionals decision that they 00:04:59.569 --> 00:05:02.350 need the level of care that they they do whether 00:05:02.350 --> 00:05:06.009 it's provided at home or in a facility. Well 00:05:06.009 --> 00:05:08.269 isn't all of this taken care of by Medicare, 00:05:08.449 --> 00:05:11.129 Medicaid or some private insurance as far as 00:05:11.129 --> 00:05:15.870 paying? So rehab is taken care of by Medicare 00:05:15.870 --> 00:05:19.889 and private insurance. However, those resources 00:05:19.889 --> 00:05:23.209 are very limited. Once you've received X amount 00:05:23.209 --> 00:05:28.629 of rehab, then it no longer pays for it. And 00:05:28.629 --> 00:05:32.110 at that point, at that point the person is either 00:05:32.110 --> 00:05:34.610 discharged from the skilled nursing facility 00:05:34.610 --> 00:05:39.730 and they're able to go back home or... Depending 00:05:39.730 --> 00:05:43.069 on where their new normal is what they're now 00:05:43.069 --> 00:05:45.670 able to do for themselves They may need that 00:05:45.670 --> 00:05:48.750 higher level of care on a permanent basis at 00:05:48.750 --> 00:05:51.790 which case it's either up to the individual to 00:05:51.790 --> 00:05:57.629 pay for it Or That's where you would really get 00:05:57.629 --> 00:06:00.009 into the situation of having to look at how to 00:06:00.009 --> 00:06:02.670 finance that Facility or how to set up that care 00:06:02.670 --> 00:06:05.829 at home if your family cannot provide it now 00:06:05.829 --> 00:06:09.610 do people ever have control over these levels 00:06:09.610 --> 00:06:13.470 of care and choosing what's right for them, or 00:06:13.470 --> 00:06:15.569 is it always in the hands of a professional to 00:06:15.569 --> 00:06:19.490 choose for you? Usually it is in the hands of 00:06:19.490 --> 00:06:24.230 the professional and you may have a say in it, 00:06:24.589 --> 00:06:27.589 but that may not ultimately be the final decision. 00:06:27.730 --> 00:06:31.129 For example, say you have a loved one that needs 00:06:31.129 --> 00:06:33.649 to be discharged to a skilled nursing facility. 00:06:34.860 --> 00:06:38.540 That individual may only want to go to facility 00:06:38.540 --> 00:06:43.199 X or facility Y If facility X and Y don't have 00:06:43.199 --> 00:06:46.180 beds available the hospital is not going to continue 00:06:46.180 --> 00:06:48.680 to hold them They're going to discharge them 00:06:48.680 --> 00:06:53.379 to the first place that has a bed available And 00:06:53.379 --> 00:06:56.980 that may not be facility X or Y It may not even 00:06:56.980 --> 00:06:59.420 be a facility in the same town may not even be 00:06:59.420 --> 00:07:02.939 in the same state really yes, so they could actually 00:07:03.439 --> 00:07:06.800 be sending a loved one off somewhere. What control 00:07:06.800 --> 00:07:09.519 does the family have in that situation? Unfortunately, 00:07:09.720 --> 00:07:14.459 none. Really? They can either take their loved 00:07:14.459 --> 00:07:18.920 one home and do whatever is needed to provide 00:07:18.920 --> 00:07:23.220 care at home or they are left to the mercy of 00:07:23.220 --> 00:07:26.939 whatever facility has a bed available. Unfortunately, 00:07:27.160 --> 00:07:31.680 for example, at the height of COVID, There were 00:07:31.680 --> 00:07:36.759 no spaces and facilities and at the time I was 00:07:36.759 --> 00:07:40.839 working in the hospital setting and we had patients 00:07:40.839 --> 00:07:44.319 that were being discharged to other parts of 00:07:44.319 --> 00:07:48.639 the state and sometimes even out of state because 00:07:48.639 --> 00:07:50.860 that was the closest place we could find that 00:07:50.860 --> 00:07:54.000 would take them. The light keepers podcast is 00:07:54.000 --> 00:07:56.519 an exclusive production of animation studios 00:07:56.519 --> 00:07:59.519 and is brought to you by a guiding light a 501 00:07:59.519 --> 00:08:03.100 c3 nonprofit organization Dedicated to education 00:08:03.100 --> 00:08:06.139 and information that allows informed preparation 00:08:06.139 --> 00:08:09.519 for living the very best life possible The mission 00:08:09.519 --> 00:08:12.100 of a guiding light is to provide education to 00:08:12.100 --> 00:08:15.269 professionals and information for everyone else 00:08:15.269 --> 00:08:18.410 about life planning, available guidance, and 00:08:18.410 --> 00:08:20.990 counseling that helps individuals and their family 00:08:20.990 --> 00:08:23.990 navigate options that improve the quality of 00:08:23.990 --> 00:08:26.970 their remaining days. 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We're so grateful 00:09:01.659 --> 00:09:03.720 for your support and sincerely hope that you 00:09:03.720 --> 00:09:07.120 will join the conversation in coming weeks. Add 00:09:07.120 --> 00:09:09.340 your questions and comments below. Speaking of 00:09:09.340 --> 00:09:12.799 that, hit the like and subscribe buttons. It's 00:09:12.799 --> 00:09:15.960 free! And turn on that notify bell so you'll 00:09:15.960 --> 00:09:19.580 catch every single episode. I'm Clayton Vandiver, 00:09:19.799 --> 00:09:22.659 your light keeper. We'll see you next time.