About Later Years
Later Years started in 2022 because the three of us had each spent a year on the phone with Medicare, assisted living sales teams and elder law paralegals, and we were tired of guessing which advice was real.
We write for adult children who are in the middle of a care decision right now — not for people browsing for interest. That means we try to answer the specific, often uncomfortable question someone typed into a search bar at 11pm, and we try to give real numbers instead of "it depends."
What we do
Later Years publishes plain-language guides on the decisions that come up most often when a parent starts needing more help: comparing Medicare plans, paying for assisted living or in-home care, choosing safety equipment, handling legal paperwork like power of attorney, and managing the toll caregiving takes on the person doing it.
We are a small, independent editorial team. We are not a government agency, a law firm, a home care agency or an insurance broker, and nothing on this site should be read as medical, legal or financial advice for your specific situation. We link out to official sources — Medicare.gov, your state's Medicaid office, the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys — whenever a decision should really be confirmed there first.
How we research and review a guide
Every guide goes through the same process before it's published:
- A writer with direct experience drafts it. Our writers have either gone through the specific decision themselves (as a caregiver) or cover it as a beat, pulling from public cost surveys, Medicare's published plan data, state Medicaid pages and interviews with professionals in the field.
- A credentialed reviewer checks it for accuracy. Depending on the topic, that's a registered nurse, a certified senior advisor, a Medicare counselor or an elder law attorney — listed by name with their credentials at the top of every guide.
- We hedge what's genuinely uncertain. Costs vary by region and change year to year; health situations vary person to person. When a guide gives a range or says "talk to your doctor" or "confirm with Medicare.gov," that's not boilerplate — it's because the honest answer depends on details we can't know about your family.
- We revisit guides when the underlying numbers change. Medicare premiums, state assisted living averages and device pricing are reviewed at least once a year, and sooner if something changes mid-year.
Who writes and reviews here
Laura Benton
Laura covers caregiver life and family decision-making. She cared for her father after a stroke for three years and writes the more personal essays and advice pieces on the site.
Michael Osei
Michael covers Medicare, insurance and legal topics. He previously worked in Medicaid eligibility casework before moving into health journalism.
Renata Suarez
Renata covers senior living, in-home care and safety technology, and spends a fair amount of time touring communities and testing the devices we write about.
Dana Okafor, RN, BSN, CCM
Dana is a registered nurse and Certified Case Manager with background in home health and discharge planning. She reviews guides that touch on health, safety and caregiver wellbeing.
Priya Nair, CSA
Priya is a Certified Senior Advisor who has worked in senior living placement and in-home care coordination for over a decade. She reviews our senior living and in-home care guides.
Carol Lindqvist
Carol is a SHIP-trained Medicare counselor who has helped families compare plans during open enrollment for more than ten years. She reviews our Medicare and Part D guides.
Harold Jennings, J.D.
Harold is an elder law attorney whose practice focuses on powers of attorney, guardianship and long-term care planning. He reviews our legal and financial guides.
How Later Years is funded
Later Years is supported by advertising and by referral relationships with some of the senior living communities, home care agencies, device makers and insurance marketplaces we cover. When a guide includes a "find care" box, a device comparison or a plan-comparison tool, that feature may be sponsored or may send a referral fee to us if you use it — this never determines which provider, plan or device ranks better in our actual writing, and our reviewers are not compensated by any company we cover.
Later Years is a private company. We are not affiliated with or endorsed by Medicare, the Social Security Administration, or any state Medicaid program.
We hedge on purpose
Health and legal situations are specific to your family. We give ranges and general guidance, and tell you plainly when something needs a professional's eyes on your actual paperwork or diagnosis.
We correct mistakes publicly
If a reader flags an error in a cost figure, a plan detail or a legal description, we fix it and note the correction date at the bottom of the guide.
Get in touch
If you've spotted something that looks wrong, or you work in one of the fields we cover and want to suggest a correction, write to corrections@lateryears.egazer.com. We read every message, even if we can't reply to all of them.