Long Term Care Insurance
By Phil McDonough
Do not consider long-term care insurance if:
• You are already eligible for the Medicaid program and do not mind limited choices.
• The premiums would greatly affect your current lifestyle and be a financial burden to pay.
Because today’s long-term insurance policies offer a variety of features and benefits, it pays to take your time when choosing your policy.
You should consider the following items before considering the details of a long-term care policy.
• The benefits you receive in the future should be substantially more than the premiums you will pay in your lifetime.
• It should no be a “cookie-cutter” or generic one size-fits-all plan. The policy should be customized to your specific personal and financial needs.
• The premiums should be affordable. Not only now but in the future.
Common Misconceptions
1) “I have disability insurance so I don’t need long-term care insurance.”
Disability insurance replaces a portion of your income when you are disabled. It doesn’t provide you with extra funds to pay for your cost of long-term care. A long-term care policy is, however, an excellent compliment to disability insurance.
2) “All of my assets are protected from being spent on long-term care because they are in a living trust.”
A living trust only avoids the lengthy probate period in your state. Assets that are held in a living trust are counted as assets when determining Medicaid eligibility. With a living trust, because you have access to the assets, your state would require you to spend down those assets first, before qualifying for Medicaid.
Call Brownell Insurance at (603) 437-1992 with your Long-Term Care Insurance questions.
Long-term care is defined as needing ether assistance or supervision from someone when you are unable to care for yourself as a result of a disabling chronic illness, physical injury, cognitive or mental impairment, or just due to old age and frailty. This type of care is considered custodial care, or non-skilled care, not rehabilitative or acute care, which is known as skilled care.
When you need long-term care you usually need help with your activities of daily living. These are items such as bathing, dressing, toileting, continence, eating and transferring. Or, you may be able to do all of your activities of daily living but still need care due to a cognitive impairment (memory loss, dementia, etc.). You may be able to dress yourself but you may not remember to take your medications.
Long-term care is more of an issue now than in the past due to our aging population. We are living much longer now so our odds for needing long-term care increase.
There are many reasons why people buy long-term care insurance. Do any of these apply to you?
• Preserve Independence
• Guarantee your choice of care and caregivers
• Protect your assets and standard of living
• To avoid being a burden to your family
• To leave more assets to your benefactors
• Peace of mind
Consider long-term care insurance if:
• You have significant assets and income that you are concerned about protecting.
• You don’t have significant assets and income, but you don’t want to rely on the Medicaid program.
• You want to remain independent and not have to rely on family or friends for care.
