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Wednesday, November 12, 2008
What is Long-Term Care? When people consider the subject of long-term care, they often think about nursing homes. In fact, long-term care has little to do with nursing homes. Understanding the difference can help you protect your family and finances.
The Consequences of Living Longer
Long-term care is a continuum of care services and housing that you will need later in life. Think you won't live a long life? Think back 25 years ago. If you had cancer or a stroke, you simply died. Few ever heard of Alzheimer's. Today, it is the leading cause for long-term care services. The longer you live, the more likely you are to need care. The question is not who will take care of you, because your family will most often, but rather what will that care do to your family and finances.
Long-Term Care is Usually Custodial Care
Long-term care is defined as needing assistance with your activities of daily living (toileting, bathing, dressing, eating, transferring from one point to another, and continence). It also includes cognitive impairment so severe that the individual needs constant supervision. If you need custodial care, chances are it will be delivered in the community, not in a nursing home. Many of you have heard compelling statistics from The New England Journal of Medicine stating that 43% of those over age 65 will need nursing home care. What the article actually said is that that number may spend some time in a facility. The fact is, few end their days in one. Every study conducted finds that care is overwhelmingly provided at home. The key question, of course, is who is going to pay for it? Who Covers the Cost?
Medicare & VA
Medicare, the primary health care program for retirees pays only for skilled or rehabilitative care, not custodial care in any venue. Medicaid, a federal and state program for financially needy individuals will pay for custodial care, but primarily in nursing homes. Funding for home care and assisted living is very limited and based on availability of funds. Veterans believe that the VA will pay for home care, adult day care, or assisted living. As with Medicaid, funding is limited and generally based on service-related disability. In fact, the federal government has as much said this to veterans by encouraging them to purchase long-term care insurance through the new Federal Long-Term Care Insurance program. The result is that consumers are forced to pay privately for their care. Unfortunately, the best thought-out retirement plan rarely takes into consideration living a long life. Put another way, those assets and income have been allocated to pay for retirement, not for the consequences of living a long life. This results in the need to invade principal and divert income. As a result, one of a seniors' greatest fear, outliving their assets, literally may come true.
The Role of Long-Term Care Insurance
The use of long-term care insurance thus becomes an important part of planning for disability caused by living a long life. The product has two roles: helping keep families together and allowing your retirement portfolio to execute for the purpose for which it was intended, namely retirement. From a family perspective, who will provide your care? Like it or not, children will play a key role. Long-term care insurance (LTCI) doesn't replace the need for family involvement in providing care but rather builds on it. It pays professionals to assist the person with the toughest tasks such as toileting, bathing, feeding and continence. This, in turn, allows the family to provide care better and longer at home. That leads to a critical question: have YOU planned for the consequences of living a long life? From a financial point of view, LTCI allows your retirement plan to stay intact. That is particularly important given the recent steep decline in portfolio value. The product, in effect, protects the balance of your account value. LTCI also protects income. Although you may qualify for Medicaid to pay for nursing home costs by transferring assets, your income (pension, social security, IRA and or 401k payout) cannot be protected. When buying this insurance, look for a long-term care specialist. Consider their training, educational credentials, and commitment to help solve your long-term care needs. The key is whether they talk first about a plan or a product. If they are interested in the plan, you are dealing with a professional. If they focus first on product and price, consider getting another opinion.
The Consequences of Living Longer
Long-term care is a continuum of care services and housing that you will need later in life. Think you won't live a long life? Think back 25 years ago. If you had cancer or a stroke, you simply died. Few ever heard of Alzheimer's. Today, it is the leading cause for long-term care services. The longer you live, the more likely you are to need care. The question is not who will take care of you, because your family will most often, but rather what will that care do to your family and finances.
Long-Term Care is Usually Custodial Care
Long-term care is defined as needing assistance with your activities of daily living (toileting, bathing, dressing, eating, transferring from one point to another, and continence). It also includes cognitive impairment so severe that the individual needs constant supervision. If you need custodial care, chances are it will be delivered in the community, not in a nursing home. Many of you have heard compelling statistics from The New England Journal of Medicine stating that 43% of those over age 65 will need nursing home care. What the article actually said is that that number may spend some time in a facility. The fact is, few end their days in one. Every study conducted finds that care is overwhelmingly provided at home. The key question, of course, is who is going to pay for it? Who Covers the Cost?
Medicare & VA
Medicare, the primary health care program for retirees pays only for skilled or rehabilitative care, not custodial care in any venue. Medicaid, a federal and state program for financially needy individuals will pay for custodial care, but primarily in nursing homes. Funding for home care and assisted living is very limited and based on availability of funds. Veterans believe that the VA will pay for home care, adult day care, or assisted living. As with Medicaid, funding is limited and generally based on service-related disability. In fact, the federal government has as much said this to veterans by encouraging them to purchase long-term care insurance through the new Federal Long-Term Care Insurance program. The result is that consumers are forced to pay privately for their care. Unfortunately, the best thought-out retirement plan rarely takes into consideration living a long life. Put another way, those assets and income have been allocated to pay for retirement, not for the consequences of living a long life. This results in the need to invade principal and divert income. As a result, one of a seniors' greatest fear, outliving their assets, literally may come true.
The Role of Long-Term Care Insurance
The use of long-term care insurance thus becomes an important part of planning for disability caused by living a long life. The product has two roles: helping keep families together and allowing your retirement portfolio to execute for the purpose for which it was intended, namely retirement. From a family perspective, who will provide your care? Like it or not, children will play a key role. Long-term care insurance (LTCI) doesn't replace the need for family involvement in providing care but rather builds on it. It pays professionals to assist the person with the toughest tasks such as toileting, bathing, feeding and continence. This, in turn, allows the family to provide care better and longer at home. That leads to a critical question: have YOU planned for the consequences of living a long life? From a financial point of view, LTCI allows your retirement plan to stay intact. That is particularly important given the recent steep decline in portfolio value. The product, in effect, protects the balance of your account value. LTCI also protects income. Although you may qualify for Medicaid to pay for nursing home costs by transferring assets, your income (pension, social security, IRA and or 401k payout) cannot be protected. When buying this insurance, look for a long-term care specialist. Consider their training, educational credentials, and commitment to help solve your long-term care needs. The key is whether they talk first about a plan or a product. If they are interested in the plan, you are dealing with a professional. If they focus first on product and price, consider getting another opinion.
About the Author:
Before you go out and buy a policy go to Long Term Care Insurance Quote, ask questions and request a long term care insurance. We represent 20 of the top LTCi providers. This gives you tremendous options.
posted by Credit Counseling at
8:44 PM
0 Comments
Who knows what the future will hold for us. A simple drive through the city can turn into a serious car accident that leaves you in need of long-term care for the rest of your life, depending on how circumstances fall into place. Many people understand that the worst can happen in life, but few actually prepare for it. If you do want to prepare for the possibility, there is nothing better you can do than purchase long-term care insurance.
Long-term care is something various people, at different ages, will need in their lives. It could be as a result of old age reducing an individual's ability to care for themselves or it may be as a result of an accident that left an individual paralyzed or with a severe brain injury. When long-term care is needed, Medicare will not cover the expenses of the individual who is in need of long-term care, and that financial burden will often fall onto family. However, with long-term care insurance, that burden is removed and the individual can benefit from living the type of lifestyle, financially-speaking, that they did before they needed long-term care.
Long-term care insurance is no different than any other insurance you pay for. You pay for house insurance and car insurance on the off-chance your house will burn down or your car will be involved in an accident. The chances are low, but you make monthly payments to ensure you have bases covered. The same is true with long-term care insurance. There is a small chance you will be paralyzed, suffer a brain injury or need long-term care in your old age, but you pay into the insurance plan in case it does happen.
The foolish state that it will never happen, and if people can learn anything from life it is that anything can, and will, happen. You should never leave everything to chance and you need to prepare yourself for the possibility of you, or a family member, needing long-term care by purchasing long-term care insurance.
Purchasing long-term care insurance is not an admission that something bad will happen, but simply preparing for the possibility that long-term care may be needed in the future, and you are not going to leave the burden of that on your family or friends. Conclusion Long-term care can happen to anyone. It can be as a result of old age or an unfortunate accident, but the point is that it is not an impossibility. As a result, preparing for long-term care by purchasing long-term care insurance is incredibly important. With long-term care insurance, you will remove a financial burden from your family while you are in need of long-term care. Your long-term care situation may stretch a decade, a year, or only a few months, but no matter how long you need long-term care, long-term care insurance will be there to make things easier on everyone.
Do not leave anything to chance and prepare yourself for the possibility of long-term care with long-term care insurance.
Long-term care is something various people, at different ages, will need in their lives. It could be as a result of old age reducing an individual's ability to care for themselves or it may be as a result of an accident that left an individual paralyzed or with a severe brain injury. When long-term care is needed, Medicare will not cover the expenses of the individual who is in need of long-term care, and that financial burden will often fall onto family. However, with long-term care insurance, that burden is removed and the individual can benefit from living the type of lifestyle, financially-speaking, that they did before they needed long-term care.
Long-term care insurance is no different than any other insurance you pay for. You pay for house insurance and car insurance on the off-chance your house will burn down or your car will be involved in an accident. The chances are low, but you make monthly payments to ensure you have bases covered. The same is true with long-term care insurance. There is a small chance you will be paralyzed, suffer a brain injury or need long-term care in your old age, but you pay into the insurance plan in case it does happen.
The foolish state that it will never happen, and if people can learn anything from life it is that anything can, and will, happen. You should never leave everything to chance and you need to prepare yourself for the possibility of you, or a family member, needing long-term care by purchasing long-term care insurance.
Purchasing long-term care insurance is not an admission that something bad will happen, but simply preparing for the possibility that long-term care may be needed in the future, and you are not going to leave the burden of that on your family or friends. Conclusion Long-term care can happen to anyone. It can be as a result of old age or an unfortunate accident, but the point is that it is not an impossibility. As a result, preparing for long-term care by purchasing long-term care insurance is incredibly important. With long-term care insurance, you will remove a financial burden from your family while you are in need of long-term care. Your long-term care situation may stretch a decade, a year, or only a few months, but no matter how long you need long-term care, long-term care insurance will be there to make things easier on everyone.
Do not leave anything to chance and prepare yourself for the possibility of long-term care with long-term care insurance.
About the Author:
Before you go out and buy a policy go to Long Term Care Insurance Quote, ask questions and request a long term care insurance. We represent 20 of the top LTCi providers. This gives you tremendous options.
posted by Credit Counseling at
8:29 PM
0 Comments
Who knows what the future will hold for us. A simple drive through the city can turn into a serious car accident that leaves you in need of long-term care for the rest of your life, depending on how circumstances fall into place. Many people understand that the worst can happen in life, but few actually prepare for it. If you do want to prepare for the possibility, there is nothing better you can do than purchase long-term care insurance.
Long-term care is something various people, at different ages, will need in their lives. It could be as a result of old age reducing an individual's ability to care for themselves or it may be as a result of an accident that left an individual paralyzed or with a severe brain injury. When long-term care is needed, Medicare will not cover the expenses of the individual who is in need of long-term care, and that financial burden will often fall onto family. However, with long-term care insurance, that burden is removed and the individual can benefit from living the type of lifestyle, financially-speaking, that they did before they needed long-term care.
Long-term care insurance is no different than any other insurance you pay for. You pay for house insurance and car insurance on the off-chance your house will burn down or your car will be involved in an accident. The chances are low, but you make monthly payments to ensure you have bases covered. The same is true with long-term care insurance. There is a small chance you will be paralyzed, suffer a brain injury or need long-term care in your old age, but you pay into the insurance plan in case it does happen.
The foolish state that it will never happen, and if people can learn anything from life it is that anything can, and will, happen. You should never leave everything to chance and you need to prepare yourself for the possibility of you, or a family member, needing long-term care by purchasing long-term care insurance.
Purchasing long-term care insurance is not an admission that something bad will happen, but simply preparing for the possibility that long-term care may be needed in the future, and you are not going to leave the burden of that on your family or friends. Conclusion Long-term care can happen to anyone. It can be as a result of old age or an unfortunate accident, but the point is that it is not an impossibility. As a result, preparing for long-term care by purchasing long-term care insurance is incredibly important. With long-term care insurance, you will remove a financial burden from your family while you are in need of long-term care. Your long-term care situation may stretch a decade, a year, or only a few months, but no matter how long you need long-term care, long-term care insurance will be there to make things easier on everyone.
Do not leave anything to chance and prepare yourself for the possibility of long-term care with long-term care insurance.
Long-term care is something various people, at different ages, will need in their lives. It could be as a result of old age reducing an individual's ability to care for themselves or it may be as a result of an accident that left an individual paralyzed or with a severe brain injury. When long-term care is needed, Medicare will not cover the expenses of the individual who is in need of long-term care, and that financial burden will often fall onto family. However, with long-term care insurance, that burden is removed and the individual can benefit from living the type of lifestyle, financially-speaking, that they did before they needed long-term care.
Long-term care insurance is no different than any other insurance you pay for. You pay for house insurance and car insurance on the off-chance your house will burn down or your car will be involved in an accident. The chances are low, but you make monthly payments to ensure you have bases covered. The same is true with long-term care insurance. There is a small chance you will be paralyzed, suffer a brain injury or need long-term care in your old age, but you pay into the insurance plan in case it does happen.
The foolish state that it will never happen, and if people can learn anything from life it is that anything can, and will, happen. You should never leave everything to chance and you need to prepare yourself for the possibility of you, or a family member, needing long-term care by purchasing long-term care insurance.
Purchasing long-term care insurance is not an admission that something bad will happen, but simply preparing for the possibility that long-term care may be needed in the future, and you are not going to leave the burden of that on your family or friends. Conclusion Long-term care can happen to anyone. It can be as a result of old age or an unfortunate accident, but the point is that it is not an impossibility. As a result, preparing for long-term care by purchasing long-term care insurance is incredibly important. With long-term care insurance, you will remove a financial burden from your family while you are in need of long-term care. Your long-term care situation may stretch a decade, a year, or only a few months, but no matter how long you need long-term care, long-term care insurance will be there to make things easier on everyone.
Do not leave anything to chance and prepare yourself for the possibility of long-term care with long-term care insurance.
About the Author:
Before you go out and buy a policy go to Long Term Care Insurance Quote, ask questions and request a long term care insurance. We represent 20 of the top LTCi providers. This gives you tremendous options.
posted by Credit Counseling at
8:24 PM
0 Comments
