So What Is To Be Done? Some naysayers speculate that it;s obviously in the insurance companies favor to have these premium payments rolling in. But to them we would like to point out that even with that being salient, LTCI; although possibly in wolf’s clothing, is still a sheep, due to the fact that the consumer will pay less if insurance is purchased when they are still in their younger age and (hopefully) healthy.

So When Should You Start Looking into Your LTCI Options? Over time, a LTCI recipient actually pays less; not just incrementally, but as a whole, because the premium is not only based on the age at which you buy,. it is typically locked in from the beginning. In order for you to better understand, here is an upcoming article by Gilbert Guide;s CEO, Jill Gilbert, in Active over 50 magazine: If a healthy 55-year-old woman purchases an LTCI policy at about $1,500 a year, by the time she is 85, she she will have spent $45,000 for thirty years of coverage. which is a marked increase.

So, this means that waiting to buy an identical policy at 75 increases the annual cost to about $7,500; this actually means that the oldest policyholder in this comparison ends up paying $75,000 for only ten years of coverage;a whopping 400% increase from the 55-year-old woman! Find out how long-term care insurance can help you? Get a free long-term care consultation and quote.

Because of the long working hours, a lot of adult children are forced to leave their full-time jobs or even scale back their hours spent on the clock, leading to a significantly reduced cash flow. Fortunately, if being a caregiver is causing a noticeable financial strain, there are homecare reimbursement programs that can help alleviate some of the burden. Keep in mind, however, that you must practice patience when applying for these programs, make sure that your application is up-to-date and all the necessary attachments are included before you send it so that delays aren’t any longer than necessary.

Long-Term Care Insurance (LTCI) Reimbursement

Long-term care insurance, which functions as an indemnity program, only pays the insured the amount that was contracted at the outset, and regardless of homecare services that are received,will only pay that specified amount. LTCI, which covers nursing home, home health care, adult day care services, assisted living facilities, and hospice care, offers payments to in-home family caregivers, though the insurance must include in-home care and/or homecare services coverage. In certain instances, LTCI requires that family caregivers complete a basic training program on homecare services and/or caregiving for elderly patients.

Though almost all LTCI contracts include skilled, intermediate, and custodial long-term homecare services, you shouldn’t rely on this type of insurance to be your only fallback when it comes to paying for in-home health care. Though, for clarification, you should contact your LTCI company directly for details on its family caregiver reimbursement policies as well as what is needed to qualify. Medicaid Cash and Counseling Program A state-administered program, Medicaid is only available to low-income individuals and families who meet certain federal and state law eligibility requirements. In other words, if you have limited income and resources, applying for Medicaid relief is advisable; however, you must be able to meet specific eligibility criteria. People who are already over the age of 65 with limited income and resources immediately become eligible as well as those who are terminally ill or live in a nursing home.

Fortunately, if the person you’re caring for is either eligible for or is currently enrolled in the Medicaid program, you may be able to receive direct payments from its Cash and Counseling program, though it is available only to family caregivers in select states, including but not necessarily limited to Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Illinois, Iowa, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, and West Virginia. In some cases, the person you’re caring for may have too high an income, excluding him or her from the Medicaid program; some states, such as Georgia, Maine, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, and Oregon, have accounted for this oversight and offer similar programs (the National Family Caregiver Support Program is one).1 Medicaid, aware that family caregivers are often the best care providers for Mom or Dad, will send a check directly to the recipient to reimburse for homecare services rendered, though this amount depends upon various assessments of overall needs and the average cost of in-home health care for that particular state. This money can also be used by family caregivers to purchase supplies, medical equipment, or even to pay for ADLs (activities of daily living).

To find out if your loved one is eligible or for more information on the Cash and Counseling program, please call the National Program Office at 617-552-2809. Making the Arrangement with Mom Official Since money is involved, it’s recommended that family caregivers draw up some sort of short, typed contract that outlines the terms of the caregiving situation in depth, including the frequency and pay rate, homecare services and job description that will be provided, and how various expenses will be reimbursed (if applicable). Hiring an attorney or other legal professional will help all family caregivers involved create a legal document that prevents sticky situations from arising.

It is also important to remember that this payment is seen as income by the government, so all family caregivers must report their earnings each year as taxable income. Although the money recieved for providing homecare services is negligible, it will help to offset many of the costs associated with providing Mom (or Dad) with a loving, stable, and comfortable home.

Know the Costs of Long-term Care Where You Live

One way to lower premium costs is to make sure you know what the actual costs of care are in your area. There are lots of statistics used when discussing long-term care costs and often these are based on national averages. The actual cost of home care, assisted living facilities and nursing homes in your particular area may be much lower. You can always find out more about local long-term care costs by either downloading the latest Genworth Cost of Care Guide or by calling a few local home care agencies and long-term care facilities to ask for comparison rates.

Adjust Your Benefit Period

Another way to lower long-term care insurance premiums is to use a shorter benefit period. Many consumers feel that unlimited benefits are necessary for quality coverage. A recent study published by the American Association for Long-Term Care Insurance in their 2009 Sourcebook discovered that only eight percent of those people who bought a three year benefit period exhausted the policy and yet still need care. Only a little over one percent of those with a five-year benefit period will see their claims closed because of policy exhaustion. This means that lowering the benefit period can be a practical way to lower insurance costs without sacrificing vital coverage.

Reexamine the Elimination Period

One way to bring down long-term care insurance premiums is to increase the elimination period (the number of days after your care begins that precedes the insurance company’s first payment of claims).

Almost ninety percent of individual continuous care insurance policies use an elimination period between ninety and one hundred days according to the same 2009 Sourcebook referenced above. If you have initial quotes used a thirty-day or sixty-day elimination period, you may have the ability to significantly lower the premiums by choosing a ninety-day elimination period instead. There are other ways that an experienced long-term care specialist can help make this kind of insurance more affordable for you. If you ask for suggestions on lowering your premiums, the specialist will be happy to work with you to craft a long-term care insurance policy that is effective and affordable.

What are the options for inflation protection? Inflation protection options offered to policyholders can vary greatly from one carrier to another. But there are two options that are almost universally used by the majority of insurance companies: a 5% compound option and a 5% simple inflation protection option. Compounding interest will have a dramatically greater effect on the amount of total benefits available to you over a long period of time. Most of the investors know that in order to see the true effects of compounded interest, you need to be patient, as it can take several years to become readily apparent. This is also true of inflation protection in LTCI policies.

How do I decide which choice will work best for me? Generally speaking, the more you wait to access the policy benefits, the more compound interest will benefit you. Many people seem to access their policy benefits after the age of eighty. Let’s say a person, who is fifty years old, could have thirty years or more before needing care. But on the other hand, a person who is 65 may not see as much benefit from compounded interest. One more factors that you may consider is the how fast the cost of care has increased in the state where you plan to retire. There are some states in the South that have historically had much lower costs of long term care than other parts of the country. Some of the other states, especially those in the Northeast, have had regular and significant increases in the cost of care. A great place to start is with Genworth Financial’s interactive map, which shows the state averages for costs of care across the United Sates. The figures include nursing home, assisted living, home health care and home care costs. One cost-effective option is to raise the daily benefit along with simple inflation protection. This will give your benefits an initial head start and pushes the break-even point between simple and compound interest farther out on your timeline.

The Bottom Line: Weigh Your Options First. Since compounding costs more than simple inflation protection, it’s a good idea to ask for quotes on both to see how each choice works on your premium. A good LTCI consultant will be happy to work with you as you choose the inflation protection that will work best for you. There are no fast and hard rules in this area of policy design, but a healthy dollop of common sense and reason will usually help you make the right decision for your unique situation.

Age isn’t an element in determining if someone qualifies for coverage. Many family are born with conditions that prevent them from living normal independent lives. Accidents and the start of crippling hereditary diseases can be causes for need. While age brings all of us to a stage in which we need some help, more than 60% of us will need full-time long term care at some point in our lives.

A LTC Insurance makes provision for an indefinite period of time. The needs of individuals The wants of individuals in this situation aren’t covered by ordinary health insurance or medicaid. This includes home care, nursing houses, controlled living or hospice facilities. A long term care insurance need has to cover a variety of possible circumstances. Patients may require a consultant, care giver, or a personal nurse. These specialists have to be available for 7 days every week, twenty-four hours a day. Unless multiple options are incorporated then live in help will be needed. Without insurance the cost of caring for family and friends is astronomical. Occasionally the only option is to move in with family.

Living with a loved one that has a long term care insurance need doesn’t have to be a burden. If you are the one with the requirement, you don’t have to feel hysteria or guilt over the future. It’s common for people with a long term insurance need to feel uncomfortable depending on family members.

Many folk would rather pay for a stranger to take care of them then to have folk they know and love, see them in a vulnerable state. But what happens when you are unable to afford to pay for long term care? Getting insurance before the need appears can make all the difference.

After a policy is in place, the term accepted can’t be change by the insurance firm in anyhow. The policy can not be canceled for any health-related reasons. The sole way an insurance firm can cancel your policy is for non payment or if a supernatural change in the term holders health happens.

A policy that covers a long-term care insurance need typically can only be acquired in the United States And Great Britain. Very few nations have corporations that are willing to take on such a policy. Occasionally American-based corporations will cover foreign patients, but sometimes only nursing care is provided for.

There are a few reasons not to purchase a need policy. Clearly if you can not afford the premium it’s not a brilliant idea. This includes people who are on a fixed income, such as receiving social security. Also, individuals who are already receive medicaid or are planning on receiving it in the near future should consider other options.

Before you go out and buy a policy go to longtermcareinsurance-guide to get info on Long Term Care Insurance Costs, ask questions and request a free long term care insurance quote. We represent 20 of the top LTCi providers. This gives you tremendous options.

Couples can even save money on the purchase of long-term care insurance, as all major carriers will discount the cost of a policy by thirty to forty percent when both spouses are on the same policy. This can result in significant cost savings for married couples. The good news is that even those who may not be married but have lived in with someone else with whom they are in a committed relationship for a year may also receive the same discount for long-term care insurance. If one spouse is approved for a policy but the other has significant health issues that preclude him or her from qualifying for long-term care insurance, this does not mean that the couple should decline coverage for the healthy spouse. Long-term care insurance is still an advantage for this couple because no one knows which spouse will need long-term care first.

Once there is a major health reversal for the previously healthy spouse, the one who had health issues originally would be in an even more disadvantaged position as a caregiver. In this case, long-term care insurance would provide the funds needed for quality care without further damaging the health of the spouse who was declined for the long-term care insurance policy. It would not be reasonable to forego health insurance for one spouse simply because the other cannot qualify for a major medical plan. The same is true for long-term care insurance. It may indeed be disappointing that both cannot be covered, but the financial risks for each of them are still prevalent and should not be ignored.

The vast majority of policies sold today already have those provisions. However, there is one requirement that contributes more than almost any other to qualifying a LTCI policy for the partnership program. It must have the age-appropriate inflation protection benefit. These requirements are as follows: Those age 60 or younger must have ” compound annual inflation protection. ” Those at least 61 but younger than 76 must have ” some level of inflation protection. ” Those age 76 or older must be offered an inflation protection option, but they are not required to purchase that option. Now why is inflation protection given to such prominence in partnership-qualified policies? The answer is that if partnership-qualified policies don’t have inflation protection, the purpose of a partnership program may be defeated. This is because the whole point of the partnership program is to help relieve the financial burden of long-term care costs from the state Medicaid systems.

Once a consumer buys a LTCI policy, but does not allow it to keep pace with the rising costs of assisted care, the insufficient benefits will be more likely to force the policyholder to turn to Medicaid anyway. With very few assets left, the state will have to pick up the rest of the bill for this individual and the original intent of the program is defeated. A very important lesson that can be learned is that inflation protection is a vital component of any LTCI policy;whether partnership-qualified or not.

The number of claimants and policyholders paid in claims: 8.25 million Americans currently have long-term care insurance and last year 8.5 billion dollars were paid in claims to 180,000 policyholders.

Age of claimants: Of the new claims opened during 2008, 61% of claimants were age eighty or older, 30% were between seventy and seventy-nine and only 9% were under the age of seventy.

Sales by issue age: It was found that 24% of long-term care insurance buyers were between the age of forty-five and fifty-four. 53% were between fifty-five and sixty-four. 15% were between the age of sixty-five and seventy-four.

Sales by daily benefit amount: Only 6% bought policies with a daily benefit between $50 and $99, while 31.5% were between $100 and $149, 35% were between $150 and $199, and 27% bought more than $200.

Sales by elimination period: The overwhelming favorite elimination period chosen was ninety days, with almost 83% of buyers choosing it.

Sales by benefit period: Benefit period choices by long-term care insurance consumers were as follows: 2 years, 7%; 3 years, 30%; 4 years, 15%; 5 years, 24%; 6–10 years, 11%; and Lifetime/Unlimited, 13%.

Sales with the use of benefit increase mode: 40% chose 5% compound interest, 16% chose simple interest, 13% chose a Future Purchase Option, 7% chose CPI (consumer price index), 14% chose none, and 10% chose other forms of inflation protection benefits.

Care settings paid for: 42% of long-term care insurance claims paid were to policyholders receiving home care, 30.5% to those in a nursing home, and 27.5% to those in an assisted living facility.

There are still many other interesting facts that was revealed by this important gathering of data that I will include in the next articles. The information presented here should be helpful to anyone who is seriously considering the purchase of long-term care insurance.

These plans are given out in some parts of the country through private insurance companies but are still part of the Medicare program. If you are planning to switch to a Medicare Advantage Plan, now’s the perfect time. The open enrollment for Medicare Advantage plan extends from January 1st to March 31st. You are eligible for a Medicare Advantage Plan if you currently have Medicare Part A or Part B. You will, however, need to see doctors and use hospitals within the plan, much like you would with an HMO. If you’d like to switch plans, always remember that you cannot drop Medicare prescription drug coverage. If your existing plan has prescription drug coverage, then your new one needs to have it as well.

For more information on the plans listed for your area, visit Medicare’s web site or call 1-800-633-4227. Your new plan should be effective on the first of the month after your request is received. Are you still not sure of what Medicare plans cover? Gilbert Guide lists all of the major types of insurance as well as what they cover. For a detailed explanation, check out Gilbert Guide’s Medicare Explained or Senior Care Reimbursement Overview, which will show you where each type of insurance pays benefits.

CCRCs are living communities for seniors. Most have three levels of residence: independent living, assisted living and skilled nursing. Each level of residence is tied to the level of care that the resident requires. The primary concept behind a CCRC is that it offers a wider spectrum of care, so that once a senior moves into the community, he or she will be able to receive the appropriate care as his or her needs change. Many CCRCs support aging in place.

Nowadays, the figures are 68% and 32% respectively, giving the people of Vermont greater choices in their long term care options. And it isn’t just Vermonters who benefit, the state does too, withe caregivers being paid an hourly rate about $10, with an eight-hour day costing $80, whereas skilled nursing facilities cost the state on average about $122 a day. But there are still a few unanswered questions, is this keeping those seniors who do not require skilled care out of nursing facilities? Even worse yet, keeping those who need skilled care inside their homes with caregivers not able to provide them with all the care they needed? How many people not requiring skilled care have been made to move into a facility preemptively? Also, will this really make a financial difference to the state? These are the types of queries that only time will be able to answer. What we do know so far is that the numbers of seniors who are eligible for Medicaid in skilled nursing facilities has dipped and rates of homecare have increased since the Care for Choices plan first came into action. Also take note that every person’s scenario will differ. However, in my opinion, every time the state steps in to ensure that a senior’s needs and desires are met should be applauded. I’m sure many Vermonters welcome the opportunity to aid seniors with household chores, getting dressed or even rides to a doctor’s appointment. Knowing that the state will compensate you for your work could take financial pressure off of many family caregivers. And whether this proves the best option for a particular person comes down to personality, compatibility and needs;similar to the process of choosing the right facility for yourself or a loved one. And no one can argue that choosing is better than being told.