Long Term Care Strategies

What kinds of long-term care financing strategies are there?

The video above shows the approach I take to helping you choose the long-term care insurance benefit that’s right for you. However, if traditional long-term care is not available to you because of your health or because it’s not affordable, there are other strategies we can explore.

Simplified one-year long term care:
This is inexpensive one-year option provides $12,000 per month ($144,000 total) for facility care. For example, 50-year-old individual, male or female, would pay $281 annually; a 60-year-old would pay $855 annually. A year of home care can be added. The entire benefit is paid each month, even if the care costs less.

Home care coverage:
There are several types of home care coverage that are available for people who have significant health issues. Care can be provided by a home care agency, or a neighbor or friend can be hired. Here’s a video that explains this option:

What Can Be Done to Help Financially When You Already Need Care

Those who aren’t able to pay for the cost of long term care themselves rely on a federal program called Medicaid. Medicaid requires complete impoverishment before the individual is eligible to receive benefits. For example, a single person must spend down everything they own to $2000. For a married couple, the at-home spouse can retain use of a house, a vehicle, and some income. However, at the death of the last spouse, Medicaid recovers (takes) the remaining assets. Medicaid does allow each person to set aside up to $15,000 for funeral expenses in an irrevocable funeral trust so that this burden does not fall on the surviving family. In addition, these trusts can be funded for children and children’s spouses without disqualifying the parent for Medicaid. The video below explains this:

There are other strategies that also might be available:

  • There are Veterans Benefits for long term care. Most veterans are not aware of these benefits or, may have been told (incorrectly) that they don’t qualify. Contact Romeo to see if you do qualify for these benefits.
  • There are also strategies that can convert a sum of money into an income for the rest of your life. Traditionally, this was based solely on your chronological age, but now thre are strategies that take your poorer health into account. These are called medically underwritten annuities. This can convert some existing assets into an income that can pay for your care for the rest of your life, and still have assets remaining for your heirs. Here’s a video that explains this concept:
  • If you don’t have liquid assets and your health allows you to live at home, it may be possible to use money thru "bank of house". These funds might be obtained through a reverse mortgage. It would be far preferable to use house assets to pay for care at home, than to sell the house, spending down to $2000, and then end up in a nursing home paid for by Medicaid.  Some people will even use these dollars to fund the medically underwritten annuity described above!

Ready to find out more?

Let us help create a customized strategy for you!