 Free Shopper's Guide with Each Quote
Long Term Care Insurance Quotes from Top Carriers
Genworth, John Hancock, MassMutual, Mutual of Omaha, Transamerica, United of Omaha and others.
Long Term Insurance Basics
"70% of people 65 and up wil need long-term health care" - The Wall Street Journal
At least 70%
of people over age 65 will require some long term care services
at some point in their lives, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
In most circumstances Medicare and private health insurance do not cover the majority of
long term care services people need: assistance with bathing
or dressing.
"Medicare does not cover long-term care services." - U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
Long term care insurance provides
financial protection from the exorbitant cost of long term
care. Most long term care insurance policies will cover the
cost of care in a nursing home, adult care center, assisted
living facility or your own home.
John Hancock Cost of Long Term Care Across the U.S. - Nursing Home, Assisted Living Facility, Adult Day Facility, Home Care
Significant discounts are available
for those that apply as husband and wife or as partners (same
or opposite gender). Additional discounts are available for
applicants with preferred health.
Long term care insurance can
be a powerful estate planning tool. Certain long term care
insurance policies can protect an unlimited amount of your
assets from Medicaid.
Many states have introduced Long Term Care Partnership Programs. These Long Term Care Partnership Programs work in conjunction with the state's Medicaid program to shelter assets from Medicaid consideration without a look back period and are a powerful estate planning tool.
Many Long Term Care Partnership Programs provide asset protection on a dollar for dollar basis. Each dollar of benefit paid by the long term care insurance policy protects a dollar of assets from Medicaid.
For example, if the policy were to pay $900,000 in benefits, $900,000 of assets would be excluded from Medicaid consideration.
The California, Texas, Florida, Pennsylvania and New Jersey Long Term Care Insurance Partnership Programs are just a few examples examples of Partnership Programs that allow for dollar for dollar asset protection.
Both the California Partnership for Long Term Care and the Connecticut Partnership for Long Term Care are examples of dollar for dollar asset protection programs. They are unique from most other dollar for asset protetion programs, as they have minimum
daily benefit requirements.
The California Partnership for Long Term Care is dedicated to educating Californians on the need to plan ahead for their future long-term care and to consider private insurance as a vehicle to fund that care. The California Partnership for Long Term Care is an innovative program of the State of California, Department of Health Care Services in cooperation with a select number of private insurance companies. These companies have agreed to offer high quality policies that must meet stringent requirements set by the California Partnership for Long Term Care and the State of California.
California Partnership for Long Term Care policies require inflation protection at all ages. The policies work in conjunction with Medi-Cal (Medicaid) to protect your assets. This video from the state of California Department of Health Care Services is a good resurce for learning about long term care and Medi-Cal Asset Protection.
The average private pay rate for a semi-private room in a Connecticut nursing facility in 2012 was $381 a day, or over $139,000 per year (before the minimum 5% discount for Partnership policy holders), according to the State of Connecticut, Office of Policy and Management, Survey of Nursing Facilities.
The cost for a day in a Connecticut nursing facility has increased approximately 5.6% a year over the last 25 years. The average annual inflation rate for nursing homes in Connecticut over the last 5 years has been 4.1%. The average length of stay in a nursing facility is 2 ½ years, bringing the cost of an average stay to more than $335,000.
Some long term care partnership programs are based on a total asset protection basis. Under these long term care partnership programs an unlimited amount of assets are protected from Medicaid from the inception of the policy.
For example, with a total asset protection policy, if you owned a $2 million dollar home, a $3 million dollar vacation home, a $4 million 401(k) account and a $1 million 403(b) account, all of your combined $10 million of assets would be 100% protected from Medicaid.
The New York State Partnership for Long Term Care is an example of a program that allows unlimited asset protection. The purpose of the New York State Partnership for Long Term Care is to help New Yorkers financially prepare for the possibility of needing nursing home care, home care or assisted living services someday.
If you receive MassHealth (Medicaid) in Massachusetts and have a long-term care insurance policy that meets certain coverage requirements, you might be exempt from some MassHealth eligibility and recovery rules. These rules determine (1) whether your home will need to be sold in order for you to become eligible for MassHealth benefits and (2) whether you or your estate may need to repay MassHealth for any of the long-term care expenses it paid on your behalf.
Establishing long term care insurance
immediately reduces the financial and psychological burdens
that will ultimately plague most families when the need for
long term care arrives. Like most insurance, the earlier you
start your long term care insurance policy the lower the cost
of your long term care insurance policy.
Combination Life Long Term Care Insurance pays for long term care or pays a death benefit or a pays a refund of premium. Combination policies do not qualify under the Partnership Program.
Tax Advantages for Employers, Employees and Individuals.
Downside of Early Alzheimer's Testing - The Wall Street Journal
In Love and Loss - Frontotemporal Dementia - The New York Times
Suze Orman on Long Term Care Insurance
Kiplinger's No-Nonsense Look at Long Term Care - And How to Pay for It Video
Genworth's Watch, Listen, Talk: Long Term Care Conversations
Alzheimer's Disease Facts and Figures 2012
HBO - The Alzheimer's Project
Combination Life Long Term Care Insurance
Linked Benefits - Combination Life Long Term Care Insurance
Wall Street Journal - Long Term Care Insurance Policy Checklist
Skloff Financial Group is a member of LTC Tree:
www.longtermcareinsurancetree.com
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