Ask Our Experts
By: Source: AARP Bulletin Today Date Posted: 2004-10-19 14:23:00-04:00
The AARP Bulletin's Ask Our Experts column provides answers to important questions affecting older Americans. Read below for this month's column, or review our archive of previously published questions and answers sorted by topic. (Note: Recent news or changes to regulations may affect the guidance offered in this previously published column.)
Submit your own question to the Ask Our Experts column via our easy-to-use online form.
Q. I’m concerned about my mother, who is getting on in years. Where can I find information to help me judge when she might not be able to take care of herself anymore?
AARP provides such information on its website. Visit "My Parents—How Do I Know if They Need Help?" This guide will help you assess your mother’s ability to remain safely independent by leading you through questions related to her mental, physical, environmental and financial condition.—Expertise provided by Joan Gibala
Q. I understand Medicare covers hospice care if a person has less than six months to live. Does coverage end if the person lives longer than six months?
No, Medicare coverage for hospice care can be continued beyond six months, provided certain conditions are met.
To get this coverage, both the patient’s doctor and the hospice medical director must certify that the patient is terminally ill and probably has less than six months to live. The care patients receive must be given by a Medicare-approved hospice program, and they must agree in writing to forgo nonhospice Medicare benefits for their terminal illness.
Medicare hospice coverage is provided for defined periods of care—two 90-day periods, followed by an unlimited number of 60-day periods—and it will continue as long as the doctor recertifies the patient at the start of each period.
Medicare offers a 12-page booklet, "Medicare Hospice Benefits," (PDF), that can be requested by calling (800) 633-4227; TTY toll free (877) 486-2048.—Expertise provided by Susan Raetzman
Q. I know I have to start making withdrawals from my IRA when I turn 701?2. But can I also keep contributing to it?
If you have a traditional IRA, you can’t contribute to it for the year in which you turn 701?2—or for any year after that.
The situation is different if you have a Roth IRA. You can contribute to a Roth IRA regardless of your age, provided you meet other requirements. The chief requirement is that you have taxable compensation in the year in which you contribute. IRS defines compensation as including wages, salaries, commissions and taxable alimony payments.—Expertise provided by Dorothy Leamon
Q. A friend told me that if a bank fails, the FDIC will pay you only the principal on your deposit, not any interest earned. Is this true?
No, you’ve been misinformed. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation covers the full balance of a depositor’s account, principal and interest, right up to the day of the insured bank’s closing. The basic insurance limit is $100,000 per depositor, per insured bank.
By law, the FDIC is required to make payment as soon as possible, and in the past, payments to depositors have usually been made in just a few days.—Expertise provided by Sharon Hermanso
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