Plan for Long-Term Care Around the Decisions That Matter to You

Start with preferences, not a program

Compare the care you would prefer with the options you might consider if your needs or circumstances changed. You may want to note preferences about support at home, a move to another setting, and who you would want involved in conversations. These are planning topics, not guarantees that a particular option will be available or funded.

Keep the decision-making roles clear. A healthcare agent’s authority concerns healthcare decisions under the relevant document; financial authority and access to financial information are separate questions. Your plan should identify who you want involved in each role and whether the documents you have still reflect those choices.

Make a care-and-resources worksheet

Before a planning conversation, prepare one working page with four columns: “care preference,” “person to contact,” “information to locate,” and “question to resolve.” This makes it easier to see where your wishes, decision-makers, and practical information do—or do not—line up.

• Care preferences and concerns, including options you would want to discuss if circumstances changed.
• Names of proposed decision-makers and alternates; note separately who would handle healthcare decisions and financial matters.
• Existing insurance or other resource information, with policy or account documents identified rather than assumptions about what they cover.
• Current estate-planning documents and a list of people who should know where relevant documents and contact details can be found.

Check authority and communication

Tennessee’s advance directive for health care addresses an agent and alternate as well as healthcare preferences. The state form includes document-signing and copy-sharing instructions; review those instructions as part of preparing or updating a directive. Consider who should receive copies and how the right people can locate the document when it is needed.

A healthcare directive does not, by itself, answer every financial or information-access question. Review healthcare decision authority, financial authority, and permissions to share information as distinct parts of the plan. Ask whether existing documents coordinate with your current preferences and chosen people.

Treat TennCare as a question to verify

TennCare’s CHOICES program is a Tennessee long-term-services-and-supports program. Both medical and financial requirements apply. Whether it is relevant to an individual situation must be assessed; do not treat it as a guaranteed funding source or assume that a particular care arrangement will be covered.

Bring questions about possible program relevance to the planning discussion alongside care preferences, insurance information, and resources. Keep the planning conversation focused on what is known, what needs verification, and what decisions remain open.

Prepare for a focused next step

For a meeting with Dale Law Group, PLLC in Murfreesboro, bring the worksheet, current healthcare and financial planning documents, and available insurance or resource records. You do not need to resolve every question beforehand. The goal is to identify gaps and decide what needs review or follow-up.

Useful questions include: Do my documents name the people I want for healthcare and financial decisions? Who should have copies or know where the documents are? What information about insurance and resources should be checked before I make assumptions about care costs? Is CHOICES a program question worth pursuing based on my circumstances?