Extended Care Options
There are times when your health insurance, Medicare, Medicare Supplements and Medicare Advantage plans, do not cover some of your health care costs. This would be when you would require help for extended care or long term chronic care needs. Chronic care needs are defined by your inability to perform 2 of 6 Activities of Daily Living or you have a Cognitive impairment. Should this happen to you, you would need to pay for this type of help out of your own pocket or spend your assets down to qualify for Medicaid. Many people don’t like these options so choose to purchase some form of insurance to help pay these costs. Today, there are several different options available to you to help you pay for care.
1. Traditional Health Based Long Term Care Insurance
2. Hybrid Policy or Asset Based Policy where money goes into an Annuity or Life Insurance policy which will pay if you need care. If you don’t need care you will get your money back.
3. Short Term Care Policies which are beneficial as the premiums are not as expensive and should you have some
What is Long Term Care?
Long Term Care affects you, your spouse, your children, parents and anyone else that you love. When we are no longer able to perform our activities of daily living (ADL’s), such as eating, bathing, and dressing, we must rely on others, usually loved ones, to assist us. By 2020 it is estimated that over 12 million older Americans will need some type of long-term care. It is anticipated that most will be cared for at home; family and friends are the sole caregivers for 70 percent of the elderly. A study by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services says that 70% of Americans who reach age 65 will need some type of long term care service before they die.
What is Long Term Care Planning?
Long Term Care planning is the plan you put together to help you pay your LTC needs, most plans are designed to keep you and your loved ones out of the nursing home, not stick you in one, by paying for in Home Care. Ideally, we want our family members to receive care in the comfort of their home instead of the dreaded Nursing facility. Many people will look to purchase a long term care insurance policy to help pay these costs. This insurance will pay for the nursing home if you desire but it also pays for a provider to come into your home. Relieving the burden of care-giving from your loved ones. According to AALTCI, of all the long term care insurance claims in 2014 51% of those claims were for Home Care, 19% were for assisted living facilities care and only31% were needed to pay actual nursing home claims.
LTCi is also designed to protect your family’s financial nest egg. According Genworth Cost of Care Survey 2015 the annual costs of care in a Nursing Home is $93,500, Assisted Living Facility care $45,000 and Home Care services $50,000. LTCi protects your assets from these extreme costs, ensuring they can be passed to your loved ones.
Don’t be fooled by thinking that Medicare and Medicaid will provide you with the long term care financing your family will need. Read real stories from families that have had direct experience with the cost of Long Term Care -call the long term care experts today to review and plan your secure and comfortable future.
Partnership Plans
Most states have created an alliance with insurance companies to ensure its citizens have adequate coverage for Long Term Care. As of January 1st, 2008, Colorado has started offering Partnership Plans for its people. This means that if you purchase a Long Term Care insurance policy and exhaust the benefits you then partner with the state of Colorado which allows you to keep all your assets while the state will pay for your continuing care.