Protecting assets during catastrophic illness through financial planning: the physician's role

Patients requiring long-term institutional care face major financial dislocations that affect their families as well. While the issue of who should pay for long-term care, society or the individual, is still unsolved and controversial, lawyers specializing in welfare law can assist individuals in obtaining public entitlements and preserving private assets. Public awareness of such planning services is uneven. Physicians can make an important contribution to the welfare of their patients who are at risk by informing them of such services and of the problems they seek to address.