One of the most important things to consider when choosing a long-term care insurance company is the financial ratings.

Secondly, you don’t want to overpay for LTC insurance.  There are some LTCi policies that can cost as much as 75% MORE than other policies with similar benefits.

You want to shop around and “get the best deal” on long-term care insurance.  But, you don’t want to sacrifice financial ratings.

I try to help each of my clients find the happy median:  a strong insurance company that offers quality coverage at a reasonable price.

Don’t take my word for it (or any insurance agent’s word for it) that an insurance company is financially strong.  Check out the financial ratings for yourself.  Each comparison that I do for each client includes links to each company’s financial ratings.

To receive your personalized comparison for LTC insurance policies, go to my secure webpage and answer a few important policy design and health questions.

I think we underestimate the importance of the example that we set for our children when they see us caring for our loved ones.

Here’s a link to a brief story about a 12-year old who’s seen care-giving up close for much of this life.  It’s entitled, “A Kids-Eye View of Alzheimer’s”.

P.S.  Most of the newer long-term care insurance policies today are designed to be able to pay family members to care for each other.  Contact me if you’d like more information about that type of LTC policy:  1.877.582.7761.

“Having practiced Elder Law for more than thirty years, it becomes more and more apparent to me that our current “needs based” system that provides government benefits to pay the cost of long-term care may become a thing of the past. As “baby boomers” approach their senior years, they should consider the purchase of Long Term Care Insurance to help pay the cost of their long term care needs.

“One of the great benefits of Long Term Care Insurance is that you can access funds when the needs arise for assistance at home. It has been my experience over the years that most people prefer to live at home rather than in an assisted living facility or a skilled-care nursing home. When it is possible, consideration for care in the home should be given to the elderly and if Long Term Care Insurance has been purchased the elder maybe able to realize that goal.

“Even under our current Medicaid system, very little benefit is available for persons residing at home. In the early years Long Term Care Insurance policies were not very good. However, as the insurance industry has become more comfortable with the cost of long term care, the under-writing development of policies has improved greatly. I recommend that those approaching their senior years consider the purchase of Long Term Care Insurance before the costs become prohibitive.”

Mark Clements
Certified Elder Law Attorney by
The National Elder Law Foundation

Here is a link to his post:

http://www.elderlawlakeland.com/my-blog/Long-Term-Care-Insurance.html

Here is a link to his website if you live in Florida and need elder law services:

http://www.elderlawlakeland.com/

Scott

I’ve been a caregiver.  Caregiving is one of the most rewarding experiences in life.  It is also one of the toughest (both emotionally and financially.)

I don’t regret the time I spent as a caregiver.  But, if I had to do it all over again, I’d do it differently.

We need to consider the consequences on our families if we do not prepare for an unexpected long-term care event.

Planning for long-term care is not just about making sure you get the best care possible–it’s also about making sure your loved ones are not suddenly thrust into a role for which they are not prepared.

Adult Children Losing $3 Trillion in Caring for Aging Parents – ElderLawAnswers Articles.

Scott

Here’s a link to brief article where he a North Carolina elder law attorney lists 3 reasons why it makes sense to buy an LTC insurance policy sooner, rather than later:

http://www.craigebrawley.com/long-term-care-insurance

Scott

P.S.  Another elder law attorney, with over 30 years of experience, advocates for LTC insurance.  Here’s a link to his brief commentary on long-term care insurance:

http://www.elderlawlakeland.com/my-blog/Long-Term-Care-Insurance.html

Over the past few years many of my clients have been answering that question like this:

“Well, my dad has a long-term care policy and it’s paying for his assisted living facility right now.  I want a policy that will do the same for me.”

Or, “My mom has 24-hour home health aides right now.  If it wasn’t for her long-term care policy, we’d have to put her in a nursing home.”

Millions of long-term care policies were bought in the 90′s.  Many of those policyowners are now making claims.  In fact, just ten of the leading long-term care insurers combined to pay over $3.9 BILLION in long-term care insurance claims in 2010.

I shared that statistic with someone recently and he asked, “But how many claims do they deny?”

Recently, the federal government conducted an audit of long-term care insurance claims practices and released their findings in a 20-page report.  The audit was conducted over a 22-month period in 2008 and 2009.

The federal audit reviewed both approved and denied claims from seven of the leading long-term care insurers.  These seven insurance companies are currently paying over 70% of long-term care insurance claims.  They audited EVERY denied claim for some of the insurers in the study.

You can read the 20-page report at the Dept. of Health & Human Services website.  I’ve provided a link below.  Here are a few important points made in the report:

“…there is a low incidence of disagreement between the clinical audit team and the insurance company adjudicators, particularly when it comes to denied claims.”

“…There is a greater probability of approving rather than denying a questionable claim.”

“…Regarding denial decisions, we found that in all cases, there was no evidence to suggest that the individual met the tax-qualified criteria for benefit eligibility in their policy.”

“…This would suggest that companies are consistently applying their clinical contract language to their claims decisions.”

In other words, the claims are being paid! The reason some claims are not paid is because the policyholder does not meet the federal guidelines for “benefit eligibility” in the policy.

Here’s a link to the study at the Dept. of Health and Human Services website:

http://aspe.hhs.gov/daltcp/reports/2010/claims.pdf

This is a very important topic.  I welcome your comments and discussion below!

Individually-purchased long-term care policies usually offer:

• Preferred health discounts that save you as much as 25%, and
• Marital discounts that can save as much as 40%.  (Marital discounts are even given for domestic partners, in most states).

Most group LTCi policies do not give any preferred health discounts.  And group LTCi policies usually do not give any discounts for being married.

But the biggest disadvantage to watch out for is that group LTCi policies are usually NOT Partnership-qualified policies.

Now that 39 states have “LTC Partnership programs” you can protect your assets even if your long-term care policy runs out of benefits.  Each dollar that your long-term care partnership policy pays out in benefits entitles you to keep a dollar of your assets if you ever need to apply for Medicaid services.

You do not have to buy an expensive “unlimited” long-term care insurance policy.  You only need to buy an amount of long-term care insurance equal to the amount of assets you want to protect for yourself, your spouse or partner, and/or your heirs.

Even if an individually-purchased LTCi policy were to cost more than a comparable group LTCi policy, this special asset protection offered by the LTC Partnership programs is probably worth the cost.

But, again, individually-purchased LTCi policies are often less expensive and have better benefits than group LTCi policies (especially for healthy couples).

1. Long-term care insurance is very flexible.  Every long-term care policy gives you many choices for your benefits.  You choose your:  Daily Benefit, Inflation Benefit, Policy Limit, and Elimination Period.  The richer the benefits you choose, the higher your premium.  The more modest the benefits you choose, the lower your premium.  You are in control of those choices.
2. Shop around. You can save thousands of dollars over your lifetime by shopping and comparing prices from several of the top long-term care policies.  Every long-term care policy has a unique way of calculating your premium based upon your age, your choice of benefits, and your health history.  When comparing several of the leading policies, with nearly identical benefits, premiums will often vary by as much as 70%..
3. Premium Payment Periods. You can choose one of four premium payment periods for your long-term care policy.  You can choose:  a stepped premium payment, a standard premium payment, a shortened premium payment, or a single premium payment.  A “stepped premium payment” method can start off about 30% less than a “standard premium payment” method.
4. Use pre-tax dollars. You can significantly decrease the “net cost” of your long-term care policy by using pre-tax dollars to help pay your long-term care insurance premiums.  There are now 10 different ways owners of long-term care insurance can save on their federal and state income taxes.  Depending upon your state and federal income tax bracket, this can decrease your “net cost” by 30% or more.
5. Buy a Partnership-Qualified Policy. Now that 40 states have “Long-Term Care Partnership programs” you do not have to buy an expensive “unlimited” long-term care insurance policy.  You only need to buy an amount of long-term care insurance equal to the amount of assets you want to protect for yourself, your spouse or partner, and/or your heirs.  The Long-Term Care Partnership programs provide dollar-for-dollar asset protection.  Each dollar that your Partnership-Qualified Policy pays out in benefits entitles you to keep an extra dollar of countable assets if you ever need to apply for Medicaid services.

The Elimination Period is the number of days you receive qualified care before your long-term care policy will begin to pay benefits.

The shorter your Elimination Period, the higher the premium.  The longer the Elimination Period, the lower the premium

Most policies offer several choices for the Elimination Period.  Common examples of Elimination Periods you can choose are:

• 30 days,
• 60 days,
• 90 days,
• 180 days, or even
• 365 days.

(Not all Elimination Period choices are available in every state.)

Most policies have “once-per-lifetime” Elimination Periods. That means that that once you’ve satisfied your Elimination Period, you never have to satisfy it again.  It is NOT like a medical insurance deductible.  You do NOT have to satisfy the Elimination Period every calendar year.

Home Healthcare Tip: Some policies offer a zero-day Elimination Period for care at home.  With these policies, the Elimination Period is waived for care at home.  Some policies include this feature automatically.  Other policies make this available for an extra premium.

If home health care benefits are important to you, then you should consider choosing a policy with no Elimination Period for care at home.

Money-Saving Tip: With some policies, a 90-day Elimination Period can be 20% less premium than a 30-day Elimination Period.

A 90-day Elimination Period for care in a facility can be a particularly good value in those policies that offer a zero-day Elimination Period for care at home.

“Mike Westling, a long-term-care insurance specialist in Richfield, Minn., has watched his father, who was in a serious car accident in 2004 and is in assisted living, spend about $4,000 a month on his care. “A long-term-care insurance policy is the best form of saying ‘I love you’ to your spouse and family, because removing the looming responsibility of day-to-day care-giving on the family is truly a gift and a blessing,” Westling said.”

Thanks, Mike, for reminding us all of the real reason for planning for our future long-term care.

Here is a link to the full article