Long Term Care

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Importance

Long Term Care may be the most important investment you make in yourself over your lifetime. We are all living longer which is vastly preferrable to the alternative but living longer also means your chances of needing long term care rises; statistics indicate that that the majority of us will need long term care services. In 2008 the median annual rate for private nursing facility room was $67,525 in 2013 that increased to $83,950 per year. How much will it cost when you need it and how will you prepare?

Did you know:

  • That the chance of needing long term care for people over the age of 65 (either nursing home or homecare) is greater than 70%
  • Long term care impacts not only those needing the care but also their family, children, grandchildren and caregivers/ spouses
  • Effects include effects to finances, careers, lifestyles, state of mind, child development etc...
  • The average annual cost of long term care is almost $7,000/ month
  • Cost for long term care is expected to triple in the next 20 years

6 Myths of Long Term Care

  • Government or health insurance will cover me - Medicare and  conventional health insurance and HMO's mainly cover only skilled care provided by nursing homes and home health care agencies but most long term care is not skilled care and is not covered by these sources. Medicaid has strict limitations and requirements before it will cover Long Term Care
  • I can just go on Medicaid and save my estate for my spouse or family - This is false, Medicaid has strict limitations and requirements before it will cover long term care. The government currently has a 5 year look back period on assets owned prior to the application for medicaid long term care services. All assets owned in the previous 5 years will be considered available for your care and will have to be spent toward your care (even if transferred during the 5 year period) before medicaid will cover any costs (there are few exceptions to this rule). Where does this leave spouses, children and extended family?
  • I'll be able to pay for it - possibly; but a recent study shows that more than 70% of individuals entering a nursing facility deplete their assets and savings in one year of care in the facility, care delivered at home can be equally expensive
  • It won't happen to me and I'm too young anyway - if you live long enough you will need long term care plus long term ilness or accidental injury could intrude at any time
  • My family will take care of me - Today time, distance, two working spouses have made it much more difficult for families to provide all the care needed
  • I can't afford it - The cost of not having the insurance can be more expensive not only for you but  because of the draining impact of not having the insurance on your family both mentally, monetarily and physically

How we can help

We have access to some of the best products on the market and the knowledge necessary to help you navigate the complicated process of evaluating the policy features and benefits. When you finally need to activate your policy we will work with your loved ones to help them understand the policy, help them navigate the paperwork for policy activation and supply them with additional resources which they will need to be an involved part of your continuing care. Call us to see how we can help you.