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Good news for Farmers and Business Owners. The legislation introducing the exemption of Farmland and Businesses after 3 years from the Fair Deal  asset assessment is due back in the Dail in the next two weeks after considerable delays due to Brexit change in Government and Covid 19. Hopefully not long after that it will come into force and Farming and Business Families will at last be able to access affordable long-term care under the Fair Deal.

Great to be asked to be part of the Joe Duffy show today contributing on the subject of Life Loan. It is very distressing seen how these impact older people their fair deal applications and ultimately their estates which are typically decimated by the life loans and the compound interest they charge. Please avoid these financial products at all costs. Unfortunately they are being sold again.

I decided to write this article as in recent times I have seen an increase in advertising of Life loans which are loans provided typically to persons over 62 against the value of their homes to help fund retirement or to buy items that funds are not available for. The loans are usually repayable at death and in the meantime, interest is charged at quite high rates and accumulates using compound interest. For many by the time they die, and the loan becomes repayable the equity in their homes is significantly eroded leaving little for their estate.

At Fair Deal Advice we from time to time come across older persons looking to apply for the Fair Deal who have previously taken out Life loans. This type of loans can cause serious problems when looking to apply for a subsidy under the Fair Deal and in some cases can prohibit the Applicant from being able to apply for the Nursing Home loan scheme.

As many of these loans are taken out to fund lifestyle the HSE will not deduct the balance of the loan against the property value when calculating the property asset contribution. They will in most case refuse to give a loan against the property to help fund the cost of care contribution. This can result in the Applicant not having the funds to pay for their care cost contribution. While single applicants may be able to sell their homes, couples will not have this option.

So, if you or your relative are considering taking out a life loan I would urge you not to. That new car and new kitchen that you may have always wanted and for which you may be looking to take out the Life Loan for may have serious implications in your ability to fund yours or your Partner’s long-term care in the future.

If you need advice on long term care and the Fair Deal, please call us at 086 601 5042 or email me at advice@fairdealadvice.ie For further information visit www.fairdealadvice.ie.

Tom Murray
Managing Director
Fairdealadvice.ie

At Fairdealadvice.ie we welcome the decision of the HSE to roll out the vaccinations to our most vulnerable in society our Nursing Home Residents and the wonderful staff who care for them 24 hours a day 7 days a week.

Nursing Homes will soon be the safest place to be for older persons in need of care and once the vaccination process is completed for Nursing Home’s hopefully the lives of Residents will be able to return to normal where they can enjoy regular visits from their loved ones and relatives.

Home caring is very challenging during the Pandemic as to keep the cared person safe entire families are having to exercise extreme caution in their movements maintaining social distancing etc. This can be very difficult if persons in the house are having to go to work, School, or college.

Unfortunately, just because we have a pandemic people do not stop being diagnosed with Alzheimer’s and Dementia or other ailments that result in them requiring long term care. Indeed, the isolation that social distancing and the precautions that we all need to take to prevent the transmission of the virus has accelerated some people’s need for long term care.

Thankfully, Nursing Homes Owners and Staff have continued to accept new Residents throughout the Pandemic providing the care that our relatives and friends needs.

If your relative requires long term care apply today and avoid unnecessary delays in them being able to avail of the care and the safe environment that they need.

If you need advice on long term care and the Fair Deal, please call us at 086 601 5042 or email me at advice@fairdealadvice.ie For further information visit www.fairdealadvice.ie.

Tom Murray
Managing Director
Fairdealadvice.ie

As Ireland’s leading Advisors on the Fair Deal and long- term care we have had quite a few calls from concerned relatives of residents of Nursing Homes over the past 6-7 months asking if they take their relative out of the Nursing Home and home care them what will be the implications on their Fair Deal funding.

Before we advise them on the impact of such a decision on Fair Deal funding, we ask them why they are looking to take such actions? They normally have the following responses.

• •We cannot visit our relative as often as we would like due to the visiting restrictions.
• •We feel that with restricted visits our relative is lonely.
• •We are worried that our relative is at risk of getting Covid in the Nursing Home.

When we ask how long their relative is in long term care, we get replies from 3 months to 3 years.
We discuss the matter further with them and ask them the following questions.

• • Your relative entered long term care for a reason usually a physical disability or due to Alzheimer’s/Dementia as you could no longer meet their care needs at home. What makes you believe that you can care for them now at Home when if anything due to the progression of time their care needs have increased?
• • Have you forgotten what is involved in meeting your Relatives care needs?
• • Do you think that Home care services which have failed in many incidents to continue to provide care assistance during the Pandemic can be relied upon to assist you in meeting the care needs of your relative?
• • Are you prepared to put your family and yourself into lockdown to avoid the risk of bringing community transmission to your home to protect your relative? This will impact your Children going to School or College, socialising with their and your friends, your and your Partner’s ability to go to work?
• • When your relative needs medical assistance where is it going to come from, will you have to bring them to a GP surgery or an Acute hospital?
• • Is your home adapted to meet the increased care needs of your relative?
• • If homecare fails what certainty have you that your relative can be readmitted to the Nursing Home?

The above questions usually help the Caller to realise that Home care is not an option. Personally, I would not recommend taking a resident from a Nursing Home and attempting to Home care them.

Residents in Nursing Homes are in as safe a place as they can be and their complex care needs are being met 24 hours a day 7 days a week.

The restricted visiting is to protect the Residents and Staff of the Nursing Home and is designed to keep the Pandemic out. Nursing Homes are now well equipped to deal with the infection should it be identified in the Home and now have extensive support from the HSE in the supply of PPE and medical support if required. Your Relative may miss you but they are surrounded in the Nursing Home by their friends that they have made and the caring staff. They are at a lower level of risk of getting the virus in a Nursing Home than if they were living in your home. If they do get the virus, they will have the best of medical assistance available to care for them.

If you would like to discuss your Relatives care needs in more detail please contact me at 086 601 5042 or email me at advice@fairdealadvice.ie   For further information visit www.fairdealadvice.ie.

Tom Murray
Managing Director
Fairdealadvice.ie

Nursing Home care regardless of where you live is expensive and this is especially so in Dublin where Nursing Homes can cost under the Fair Deal from €1,080 to €1,395 per week or privately from €1,200 to €2,000 per week.

The lower Fair Deal rates are available for those who are successful in their application for the Nursing Home Support Scheme in Dublin. The amount one has to contribute towards the Fair Deal rate that a Nursing Home charges depends on the applicant’s finances i.e. their level of income and their assets with the HSE funding the difference if the financial assessment is less than the Fair Deal rate.

It is important particularly so in Dublin to apply for the Fair Deal prior to the person being admitted to the Home as if you enter a Nursing Home without the Fair Deal approved and funding in place you will have to pay the private rate until the Fair Deal is approved and funding allocated. With applications in Dublin taking from 10 to 16 weeks (depending on the quality of the application and time of year) to get approval this could cost an individual who needs immediate admission to a Nursing Home from €15,000 to €32,000 which they have to fund from their own resources.

There are 104 Nursing Homes in Dublin with many more in the surrounding counties so there should be a good choice to pick from. Demand however is high with most Nursing Homes operating at 98-100% occupancy. You do need to be careful when choosing a Nursing Home and make sure you ask what are the extra costs such as service fees. Service fees are to cover items not covered by the Fair Deal such as entertainment etc. They can range from €35 to €400 per week so make sure you ask. The average is €65 per week. Unfortunately, there are about 5 Nursing Homes in Dublin who charge €200 to €400 per week service fees claiming it’s for a room with better facilities, views or for a private room. These Nursing Home are in my opinion exploiting their residents and their families and I would not recommend these homes due to the excessive extra costs that they levy on their Residents.

Thankfully there are 99 other excellently run Nursing Homes operated by Private Operators, Voluntary and charitable organisation’s and the HSE to choose from in Dublin.

If you need advice on  Nursing Home care in Dublin or when to apply for the Nursing Home Support Scheme/Fair Deal,  Advice on the Fair Deal and on Elder care, please contact me at 086 601 5042 or email me at advice@fairdealadvice.ie   For further information visit www.fairdealadvice.ie.

Tom Murray
Managing Director
Fairdealadvice.ie

Despite the country being in the grips of the COVID 19 pandemic crisis and associated lockdown and restrictions, peoples need for long term care have not stopped or gone away. In fact, confinement to home and inability of some Homecare and Home help staff to continue to provide care and support services to older persons has increased the need for long term care facilities and resulted in many people realising that continued living at home is no longer possible. Unfortunately, like cancer and other conditions dementia and Alzheimer’s and other conditions have not gone away due to the crisis.

I am frequently asked the following questions which I will answer below.
• Are Nursing Homes open to new admissions?
• Is the Fair Deal/ Nursing Home Support Scheme open to new applicants?
• Are Nursing Homes safe and/or is my relative safer leaving the Nursing Home and being home cared during the crisis?

Are Nursing Homes open to admissions?

The answer to this question is yes, the majority of Nursing Homes are continuing to admit new Residents throughout the current crisis. The HSE recently announced additional funding for Nursing Homes to help them with the additional costs and staffing challenges faced by the crisis such as additional infection control equipment and the need for additional staff. As a condition of receiving this additional financial support Nursing Homes are required to continue to admit new Residents. Vacancies are continuing to arise in Nursing Homes for reasons not virus related.

Nursing Homes however will not be reckless in taking admissions and certain conditions will be in place before a Resident is admitted. These may include a minimum of 14 days quarantine period at home/hospital before admission and many Nursing Homes will require a COVID 19 free test result to ensure the safety of its Residents and Staff. Needless to say, any new Resident will be subject to the visiting restrictions in place in all Nursing Homes since March until the HSE deems it safe to relax them which could be some time yet. Some Nursing Homes have decided not to take new Residents in order to protect their Residents and Staff.

Is the Fair Deal/Nursing Home Support Scheme open to new applicants?

Yes, the Fair Deal scheme remains open as we are at www.fairdealadvice.ie offering professional independent advice on long term care and the Fair Deal from 9am to 9pm- 7 days a week. Applications are being processed in a timely manner by the HSE staff and funding is being allocated.

Are Nursing Homes safe and/or is my relative safer leaving the Nursing Home and being home cared during the crisis?

I believe that Nursing Homes remain the safest place for your loved ones to be cared in throughout the crisis. The Residents are continuing to get excellent care by the many unsung hero’s working as Carers, Nurses, Doctors and managers 24 hours a day 7 days a week. Strong infection control measures are in place as is access to medical devices if required. Nursing Homes are specialists in dealing with conditions such as the Winter Vomiting Bug and the Flu and many older persons have successfully beaten the COVID – 19 virus. If there is a COVID – 19 outbreak in a home with proper procedures and controls it can be contained and does not mean that all residents will become infected.

While Nursing Homes have had bad publicity regarding the Virus many of the countries Nursing Home have stayed virus free and those that have had instances of it are dealing with it without it spreading throughout the home. If someone gets ill in a Nursing Home, they have medical staff to administer the appropriate medical treatments. Compare this to trying to successfully isolate and care for a loved one at home with family members coming and going and its impossible. While its difficult not getting to see your loved ones be assured that they are getting the best of care and attention from their second family the Nursing Home staff and are looking forward to seeing you all again soon.

Remember when your loved one was admitted to a Nursing Home it was for a good reason. Most likely you could not meet their increasing care needs. Now that they have been in a Care Home for sometime you may well have forgotten how difficult home care was and, in the meantime, your loved one’s care needs will most likely have increased. You may not appreciate this as these care needs are being met on a daily basis by the expert care home staff.

You could take your loved one home but what if you can’t cope, what do you do when a medical issue arises? My advice is for you to keep your loved one in the Nursing Home it is in their best interest and safety.

If you wish to discuss any of the issues raised in this article or need professional independent advice on the Fair Deal and long term care please contact me on 086 601 5042 or email me on advice@fairdealadvice.ie For further information visit www.fairdealadvice.ie.

Tom Murray
Managing Director
Fairdealadvice.ie

The COVID-19 pandemic and the fear that it has created in our communities is causing considerable issues for our older communities in particular those who are relying on Home care services or who are in Hospital.

I have received many calls from concerned families who have quite suddenly being left with no Home care as the persons performing this valuable service have withdrawn from providing it leaving many older and vulnerable people and families in difficult situations. If you know anyone living alone who was receiving this assistance, I suggest you make contact with them and make sure that they are okay for shopping etc.

This crisis has resulted in Home care no longer being a viable care solution for older persons and many will now have to enter long term care facilities as families are unable to meet their relatives care needs. The good news is that Nursing Home are continuing to accept admissions and the Fair Deal scheme remains open. At Fair Deal Advice we are here to hep you with the process of advising and applying for the Fair Deal if required.

Many of my calls at present are from Families with older relatives in hospital who are or have been transferred into Nursing Homes to clear bed space for potential COVID-19 patients. This believe it or not is a positive for your relatives as Acute Hospitals are no place to be in at present and your relatives will receive better care and be safer in Nursing Homes. In order to get the patients out of the Acute Hospitals many will have been offered temporary transitional care relief whereby the HSE will pay the majority of the cost of care in the Nursing Home for the transferred patient while they apply for the Fair Deal. If you are in these circumstances, I would urge you to apply for the Fair Deal without delay. This will ensure that you will have Fair Deal funding in place when the transitional care relief is withdrawn or runs out. Many people don’t normally have the benefit of receiving transitional care and would normally have to fund the cost of care privately until the application for Fair Deal is approved and funding allocated.

The Fair Deal is a complicated process and I would strongly recommend that you obtain professional advice on it before you complete and submit your application. Incorrectly filled applications have serious implications in the future so don’t be pressured or rushed to complete the application. Get advice and complete the application correctly.

At Fair Deal Advice we are here to advise you on the Fair Deal and to help you applying for the Fair Deal. If you need assistance please contact us on 086 601 5042 or email us at advice@fairdealadvice.ie . For further information visit our website www.fairdealadvice.ie

Fair Deal Advice will remain open throughout the COVID-19 crisis. We will happily continue to provide our nationwide professional advisory service on the Fair Deal Scheme and long term care finance by phone and online. We will not be meeting Clients in person during this time. The Fair Deal Scheme remains open to new applicants and Nursing Homes are continuing to accept new Residents. If you or your relative may require long term care in the next 6 months I would strongly advise that you get advice and apply early as it is estimated that as a consequence of COVID 19 there will be in an increase in demand for long term care services.

If you are concerned about a relative and would like to discuss your concerns at this difficult time, please give us a call and we will happily try and help you.

If you have a relative in long term care who you have not been able to visit please be assured that they will be getting the best of care in the safe environment of their Nursing Home where their second family i.e. the wonderful staff who work in Nursing Homes and their fellow Residents will be looking after them.

We are here to help so please call if we can be of assistance on 086 601 5042 from 9 am to 9 pm 7 days a week or email us at advice@fairdealadvice.ie , In the meantime stay safe and take care.

Tom Murray
Managing Director
Fairdealadvice.ie

It never ceases to amaze me how many people apply for the Fair Deal without getting professional advice and without understanding how it works. Applying for the Fair Deal for many is probably the second biggest financial transaction that they will be involved in since taking out their mortgage and buying their first home. Yet they do not seek advice and fill out the forms blind not knowing what they are really getting into.

The consequences of this approach is that the vast majority of people in the Fair Deal scheme and thats around 23,000 persons are overpaying their contributions to care. I come across it usually after thousands of euros have been unnecessarily lost from overpayments which in general are not recoverable. One mistake in the application will have lifetime financial implications for the applicant as they will be over charged in most cases. I suppose ignorance is bliss and what you dont know won’t bother you.

Often the Fair Deal process is seen as an once off exercise and once the forms are submitted and the applicant is in care nobody ever looks at the Fair Deal again other than making their monthly contribution to care and watching their bank accounts deplete over time and giving out how the Fair Deal is taking everything they have or once had.

As these people don’t understand the rules they don’t understand that the Fair Deal is designed not to effectively clean anyone out financially. It takes a percentage of your income and a % of your property and cash assets. What people don’t realise is that they can have their cash assets reassessed each year so that they are not continuing to contribute on cash assets balances that are no longer there this never getting to a point where all funds are used.

The other mistake is they don’t claim their tax rebates on their Nursing Home fees on an annual basis which means having given out for their whole lives about the amount of tax they pay, they are now not availing of an opportunity to recover their tax paid in full each year.

If you are one of the above or if you know someone in this situation I suggest you do the two actions detailed above and save yourself some money and stop overpaying your Nursing Home fees. If you need assistance in doing so please contact Tom Murray at www.fairdealadvice.ie by email at advice@fairdealadvice.ie or phone 086 601 5042 who can assist you with the process.

Source From: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/overpayment-nursing-home-fees-under-fair-deal-tom-murray/

In my work advising Clients on the Fair Deal I regularly come across husbands/wives and other family members who contact me seeking advice and assistance with the Fair Deal and long term care solutions for their husband/wife or relative. Often these people are in their 70’s or 80’s and are exhausted and at their wits end as they have cared for their loved one at home despite increasing care needs with little or no help or in some cases with restricted home help services provided by the HSE.c

Son’s, Daughters and other relatives when visiting are all focused on the Cared and rarely if ever ask the Carer are you okay, how are you getting on, do you need help. Often with Elder care Son’s, Daughters and other relatives are in denial on the Cared persons condition and they cannot see the stress and strain that the Carer is being subjected to. This I am sure is why many Carers pre-decease the Cared for person.

The consequence of the above is that often the Cared person is not admitted to a Nursing Home when their care needs require it as family members are in denial and don’t appreciate what the Carer has to do 24 hours a day in an attempt to meet the Cared for persons care needs.

If you are a Son or Daughter or Family member or friend of someone who is caring for a relative, please ask and make sure that they are okay and give them the help and support that they need but often wont ask for. And if you see the Carer is struggling don’t allow the situation to continue and make the decision to admit the Cared person to long term care where they will get excellent care 24/7 by professional staff following a dedicated customised care plan. And once the Cared for person is in a Nursing Home don’t forget the Carer who now may be feeling lonely or guilty for no longer being able to care for his/her loved one at Home.

If you find yourself or know someone in the above situation and need professional help and advice in availing of long term care and the benefits of the Nursing Home Support/Fair Deal Scheme, contact Fair Deal Advice today by email advice@fairdealadvice.ie or phone 086 601 5042. www.fairdealadvice.ie– We are here to help you.

Tom Murray
Managing Director
Fairdealadvice.ie