Preparing For ‘The Journey’ An Inevitable Part Of Life

By: DeAntha Wright-Thornburg

There is a road we all will travel on at one time or another in our lifetime. It may be an awkward walk if you fail to prepare. All will walk the same path to the end. It’s called ‘The Journey.’

In the past four weeks I personally have gone from planning a 90th birthday party for a dear friend to attending his funeral. Today my sisters and I watched as a Hospice nurse introduced herself to my 89-year-old mother. For some reason I am numb, there is a hollow feeling of trying to understand death and its final passage. It’s something none of us are ever ready for. But watching our loved ones embrace the journey leaves many of us trying to define our own mortality. I’m sitting here tonight writing at my mother’s bedside. With every breath she takes we wait to see if there is one more. Her journey awaits . . . all I can do now is pray, as we wait for the Lord to tell her it’s time for her to go and be with daddy.

While we wait to begin our journey, I wanted to share what it means to be a caregiver to a loved one.  And how our own aging population has grown. The number of caregivers increased from 43.5 million in 2015 to 53 million in 2020. In the last 20 years we have seen a dramatic shift of numbers by 2030 it is estimated 73 million people in the United Sates will be 65 or older. Many will require elder care at home, assisted living, or primary nursing care. This doesn’t include those with long-term care policies. LTC is an insurance policy purchased to cover memory care or private pay primary nursing care, or assisted living facilities.

Forty-eight percent of today’s caregivers care for an elderly parent. Only 11 percent care for a spouse. Ten percent care for grandparents. In 2023 unpaid caregiver statistics shared that 89 percent of unpaid caregivers are related to their care recipients by either blood or marriage.

Recently Medicaid announced a Freedom Care program. If you are a Medicaid recipient and your caregiver lives with you, they can be paid. The guidelines are simple you must be on Medicaid, live in Indiana, need help with daily activities and are able to direct your own care / services. If not have an individual representative appointed. As a caregiver you must be a citizen of the U.S., over 65 or have a recognized disability and meet the requirements of the Aged and Disabled Waiver.

Because of government regulation, Medicare is NOT enough.

Medicaid funding is shared by states and federal government with the guarantee to states for federal matching payments with no pre-set limit. Medicare is a federal program whereas Medicaid is primarily supported by State Funding. As a federal program, Medicare relies on the federal government for nearly all its funding. The funding primarily comes from general revenues (46 percent), payroll tax revenues (34 percent) and premiums paid by beneficiaries (15 percent).

What is happening is our larger nursing home facilities and assisted living homes are required to have a certain number of beds for Medicaid recipients.  If a patient goes to the hospital, Medicare picks up the bill. But when the patient is discharged from the hospital and more than seven days have passed, those individuals’ risk being told their bed has been taken. Most of the time the bed is taken because of a private pay recipient. Thus, pushing the Medicaid patient onto the street all because of the dollar.

Being a Caregiver’ and staying in one’s home is the best medicine of all. But knowing when to reach out and ask for help is the most important part of being a ‘Caregiver.’ Defining the role of the individual is a support worker paid, or unpaid member of the individual’s family.

Being a’ Caregiver’ isn’t an easy job. For a family member it is a stressful, demanding job, it can lead to PTSD for even the most experienced individuals. The issue we are seeing is the lack of support from family members. The lack of a positive support network as a caregiver can lead to major depression, self-imposed isolation or burnout. The positive side of being a family caregiver is compassion, and the ability to translate to empathic feelings for all involved.

Knowing when to ask for help is the most important part of ‘The Journey’. For those family Caregivers, Medicaid has joined forces with Medicare and has established a program called Hospice. I will define its purpose and the benefits of asking for Hospice and why. Thus the ‘Journey’ begins.

-DeAntha Wright-Thornburg worked for the Indiana Department of Transportation for more than 30 years and is also a freelance journalist.