How should I insure my parents?

You can reduce your stress by educating yourself about the insurance needs that your parents have, if you are anxious about health care for your aging parents. The important thing is knowing where to find the necessary information, and what the necessary information remains to be.

The first step to insuring your parents and covering them as dependents is collecting the essential health data.

Here are some tips on getting your parents insured:

• Become active in their health care

• Know where to find their medical histories, prescriptions, documents, and other medications.

• Collect their Medicare bills

• Store everything in one easily accessible place

• Avoid moving the information and paperwork, and if it helps, try storing it in your computer or store it in a disc

• Identify the necessary health insurance coverage

• Know what companies will insure them and where previous insurance documentation is kept

• Know the difference between Medicare and Medicaid

• Consider durable of attorney – a document that will give you the authority to make legal and financial decisions on their behalf

• Identify whether your parents are enrolled in a Medicare HMO

• Ask your parents if you may refer and read to their health insurance and long term care benefits handbooks

• Shop around

• Have addresses, names, and phone numbers of your parents’ health care providers.