YOU DON’T KNOW “JACK”
People are living longer. That’s a good thing. There is a higher level and far better quality of care being provided to our elderly and senior populations. That’s a good thing. But this longevity and care comes at a price, literally.
In the past, people who required long-term care often went from their home to a nursing home, where they passed away soon afterwards. Nowadays, there is an entire long-term care industry that has sprung up.
Home health aides, adult day care centers, assisted living residences, nursing homes, continuing care retirement communities, hospice care – are all part of this continuum of care. Conceivably, a person could enter this continuum when they are relatively “young,” in terms of needing long-term care, and not exit the continuum for many years.
For instance, a woman who is seventy-five may need some assistance with the activities of daily living (eating, bathing, clothing, etc.) or may simply need assistance with shopping and desire the socialization that is available in a congregate living environment. This woman might enter the continuum of care receiving the services of a home health aide and spending some of her time at an adult day care center. She might move on to an assisted living residence and eventually enter a continuing care retirement community or nursing home some years later. This process could last for many, many years.
In a number of my prior columns, I have written about the Medicaid program. Medicaid, as you probably know by now, is the only government program that pays for long-term care. … Well, at least that’s what I’ve told you. But that’s not exactly true.
Medicaid is the only federal program that pays for long-term care. In New Jersey, there is a non-Medicaid program that will lend some financial assistance to individuals or couples who require long-term care. The program is called Jersey Assistance for Community Caregiving, or JACC (pronounced “jack”).
The program will give a beneficiary up to a maximum of $600 a month to pay for some long-term care services. The purpose of the program is to “provide a broad array of in-home services and supports that enable an individual at risk of placement in a nursing facility to remain in his or her home.”
Of course, $600 a month only goes so far, so the amount of care that the person requires cannot be that great. For instance, if an individual required a live-in home health aide, which could cost anywhere from $2,500 to $3,500 a month, JACC is not going to pay for that service, at least not all of that service.
And that’s not the purpose of JACC. JACC is designed to allow people who require a marginal amount of long-term care to avoid placement in a facility, such as an assisted living residence or a nursing home. It is designed to prolong the stay of these individuals in the community.
The benefit to the person, they get to live in their home for a longer period of time. The benefit to the state of New Jersey, if a person stays in their home longer, they’ll stay off Medicaid for a longer period of time, so the State’s Medicaid costs will decrease.
To qualify for JACC, an individual must have less than $40,000 in liquid assets (cash and cash equivalents) and a couple must have less than $60,000. From an income perspective, an individual must have less than $2,695 per month in income and a couple must have less than $3,632; however, certain deductions are available to reduce a person’s income below the applicable limit.
The $600 benefit is the maximum monthly benefit. The less income that a person has, the more of the $600 monthly benefit they’ll receive. The more income a person has, the less of the $600 monthly benefit the person receives.