When a good friend of mine inquired where he could obtain information about medical insurance for his out-of-state, elderly mother, I told him to try Internet.

He reported back to me about a week later, in desperation: "I am giving up, I am too confused." He had taken on an overwhelming project with his widowed mother, living in another state. As only child, and following sudden death of his father, it was his responsibility to care for his mother.

In this world of technology, family unit is often living in different geographical areas and family members are usually quite involved with their own lives, careers, and families. In addition, when both parents are alive, often one or both parents are quite independent and do not require a lot of assistance. As time goes on things, of course, change, and sometimes change very suddenly. There can be a crisis, with regard to health care needs of one or both aging parents.

With our baby boomers facing this problem in ever increasing numbers, and with information highway in full bloom, there is a definite need for planning.

Protecting your parent's assets and health is a huge and daunting undertaking, which requires a tremendous amount of education and practical application. Our seniors face many diverse responsibilities upon reaching age 65. To name just a few: Estate planning, taxation, Medicare, social security, wills, insurance, and various other legal and financial matters. All of these different areas require expertise from accountants, lawyers, estate planners, insurance agents, home brokers, financial advisors, and others.

The Internet is a good starting point for most people to find resources for questions and solutions for your problems. There is, however, no replacement for good solid intelligent advice from an expert.

Twenty years ago, insurance for elders was sold by "senior insurance specialists", with just a handful of companies in each state. The programs were most often Medi-gap or Medicare supplemental policies, which covered expenses not covered by Medicare, including hospital and doctor deductibles, durable medical devices, and non-approved Medicare costs. Ironically these specialists did not sell a lot of nursing care policies, even though Medicare paid a national average of less than 2% of these expenses. With advent of "financial and estate planning" and more insurance companies entering this market, a more broad and diversified product line became available to agents, brokers, planners, and seniors.

Part of this new diversification was "home health care plan", sold by itself, and in conjunction with senior health insurance products. The appeal of "home health care policy" was that a senior could stay at home and still receive medical and custodial benefits, allowing a person to recuperate in comfort of their own home.

This was answer to a huge problem. The last place an older person wanted to go was a "retirement home", or "rest home", or, God forbid, "nursing home." It appeared that seniors could now rely on this new innovation without worry of having to move out of their home environment in event of a health problem.

As with most things," if it is too good to be true".... The home health care policy is no exception. The problem is, there is not enough coverage for a lengthy illness or recuperation time. The fact is, new trend is toward an "all in one" type facility, allowing for a variety of levels of care all in one location. In other words a senior could start off with little or no health care concerns in an independent, less expensive area, and then go to an assisted living, or nursing care facility, all within same compound.

A "nursing home" requires a nurse on premises 24 hours per day, assisted living is just eight hours. The advantages to this are financial. The patient or senior is only charged according to care level required during time he or she is admitted to that facility. Another benefit is it alleviates a lot of planning because care is delivered, as it is needed. The medical attention is available to all residents regardless of their current health.

TIP 1: Relax. :) Relax, Relax and again I say, "Relax". Don't count each penny you save and worry about how much you save. Does it really matter if this week you saved $1.92 compared to $1.93 on a meal. Yes, every penny matters, but sometimes amount is so minimal its not crucial.

TIP 2: Budget. Always good advice, sometimes harder to do.