The Long Term Care (LTC) Blog
Your Life Insurance Can Help Pay For Your LTC
Lawmakers from several states are encouraging elderly people to use their life insurance to help pay for their Long Term Care through viatical settlements. Currently, life insurance in an amount over $1500 of death benefit had to be cashed in prior to qualifying for Medicaid. The money received from cash value could be used like…
Read MoreNursing Home Profit Margins Half That of Three Years Ago
Skilled Nursing Facilities are not doing well financially. One third of U.S. nursing homes have no profit or are losing money per the June 7th issue of McNights LTC News. The problem is two fold. Nursing homes lose money on the Medicaid remibursement rate. Many nursing homes have a significant percentage of their residents on Medicaid. It…
Read MoreEstimating The Current Cost of Future LTC
With the costs of LTC services increasing at 5% to 6% annually over the past 20 years, it would be likely to expect that trend to continue. However, with the shortage of workers for LTC facilities, it is also likely that wages, and thus prices will rise even faster. How would I calculate how much…
Read MorePrice of Stroke to Double In Next Two Decades
The rising prevalence of stroke in an aging population is likely to more than double the cost of stroke care over the next two decades, the American Heart Association and American Stroke Association warned. Annual stroke-related medical costs are projected to jump from $71.6 billion in 2012 to $183.1 billion in 2030, according to a…
Read MoreHow Prenups Fail When Long Term Care Is Needed
More second marriages (65% to 70%) than first marriages (60%) end up in divorce. This is very important for financial advisors to consider when helping married couples plan. Often two families blended together may have very different expectations for their money when one partner dies. But do you consider the impact if one of the…
Read MoreMom Is Entering A Nursing Facility, Can We Still Get Her Some LTC Insurance?
It is often a very sudden thing when we realize a loved one needs care in a long term care (LTC) facility. Sometimes it is within hours of a hospital discharge, other times we may have a day or two of advance notice. This can be a very tough thing to do if there has…
Read MoreLTC Costs Are Going Up At An Accelerating Pace
A recent Wall Street Journal article was titled “As America Ages, Shortage Of Help Hits Nursing Homes”. With 10,000 Americans turning 65 every day for the next 19 years, where will our caregivers be found? The number of Americans 65 and older is projected to reach 73 million in 2030, up from 40 million in…
Read MoreLTC Insurance – It’s All About Access
As the baby boomers age and advance towards retirement, how they plan financially for the future is rapidly changing. One of the larger changes taking place is an increasing need for long-term care insurance (LTCI) and decisions about how it will be best positioned. Historically, LTCI has been thought of as an instrument to protect…
Read MoreWomen Will Pay More – Much More!
80% of the people in nursing facilities are female. Women often take care of their husbands, and then nobody is left to care for them, thus they end up in facilities. With women being the main users of LTC facilities, the LTC insurance companies are going to gender specific rates this year. Who do you…
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