Paying for Health Care With a Reverse Mortgage? Consider the Fees
Say your grandmother needs some extra money to pay for her long-term care. You may already know that a reverse mortgage is one option for her. But what if she needs to pay for regular health-care instead? Could she use it for that?
Finance-advisor duo Ilyce Glink and Samuel Tamkin answer that question in a recent column featured at the San Antonio Express-News website. The answer? Yes, but …
The problem is that reverse mortgage fees can be quite high, and if your grandmother needs a small amount of money for health care expenses, the cost of the reverse mortgage may exceed the health care costs involved.
Keeping that in mind, you have to determine what health care costs your grandmother has now and faces in the future.
For more on reverse mortgages, check out these previous OurParents posts. But also, here are some posts with other ideas about how to afford health care:
- Some Brand-Name Drugs Cheaper Than Generic in Medicare Donut Hole
- Woman Saves $260 on Prescription, Just by Switching Pharmacies
- The Nursing Home Alternative Medicare Pays For: Home Health Care
- Nurses Giving Elderly People Free Respite Care, Guidance
- Paying for Senior Care: The Life-Insurance Sale Some States Don’t Like
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Leigh Ann Otte is a freelance writer who specializes in health and aging issues. She covers finding and paying for senior care for OurParents. If you have any questions about this post or need help finding senior care options for a loved one, call 1-866-483-4896 to speak with a care advisor in your area.
This is a major concern with any reverse mortgage situation…it can be a very expensive way to borrow money. One way to deal with this is through the mandatory counseling session whereby an impartial counselor will sit down with you to determine whether or not you are making the right choice with the mortgage…or if there are cheaper alternatives available.