Will you be in the news?

Will you be in the news?
Will you be in the news?

Will you be in the news?

Many of you have read about or have seen news stories of seniors being evicted from a long-term care facility. It is a tragedy that some people spend down their savings paying for care at the end of life. Medicaid (government welfare) can help these folks, but it pays the facility far less than the cost to care for them.

You can’t lose money on every customer and make up for it in volume!

Smart people buy insurance that pays for this care.  Why not insure for end-of-life nursing care, and leave your savings to heirs?

Call TheLongTermCareGuy.com at (920) 884-3030 and learn about Long Term Care insurance.

CORONAVIRUS AND LONG TERM CARE

COVID-19’s added costs likely will lead to increases in insurance premiums and long-term care costs!
COVID-19’s added costs likely will lead to increases in insurance premiums and long-term care costs!

COVID-19’s added costs likely will lead to increases in insurance premiums and long-term care costs!

More than 18 million people have been infected by coronavirus worldwide, about a quarter of them in the United States. It is likely to be years before the costs for those who have recovered can be fully calculated, according to Reuters interviews with approximately a dozen physicians and health economists.

These experts point to the potential for billions of dollars in long-term healthcare expenses, as studies of patients with COVID-19 continue to uncover new complications associated with the disease. They say the costs stem from COVID-19’s toll on multiple organs, including heart, lung and kidney damage that likely will require costly care, such as regular scans and ultrasounds, as well as neurologic deficits that are not yet fully understood.

The added costs likely will lead to increases in insurance premiums and long-term care costs. Bruce Lee of the City University of New York Public School of Health estimated that if 20% of the U.S. population contracts the virus, the one-year post-hospitalization costs would be at least $50 billion. This is before factoring in longer-term care for lingering health problems. Without a vaccine, if 80% of the population became infected, that cost would jump to $204 billion.

“On a global level, nobody knows how many will still need checks and treatment in three months, six months, a year,” Marco Rizzi, M.D., a physician in Bergamo, Italy told Reuters. Rizzi has seen nearly 600 people with COVID-19 for follow-up. He is co-chairing a World Health Organization panel recommending long-term follow-up for patients. Even those with mild COVID-19 “may have consequences in the future,” he added.

LTC Comment: Covid-19 hit LTC when it was already down. The perfect storm of an oncoming economic catastrophe and growing long-term health care costs may finish the welfare-financed system. Will private financing markets, including home equity conversion and private LTC insurance, fill the breach?

How will you or your clients pay for their LTC costs?

Assets have lost value, LTC costs are up and likely to go higher. LTC insurance with an automatic 5% compound inflation factor WILL keep up with increasing costs and allow those insured to get the care they need where they want it, instead of relying on a Medicaid nursing home.

www.TheLongTermCareGuy.com

(920) 884-3030

[email protected]

 

What’s it Really Like Paying for Long-Term Care

What’s it Really Like Paying for Long-Term Care?
What’s it Really Like Paying for Long-Term Care?

Annual cost range is $18,720 for adult day-care services to $100,375 for a private room in a nursing home!

As written by Michelle Singletary and published in the Washington Post on November 26, 2018

One of my favorite Spock quotes from the Star Trek television series is, “Live long and prosper.” Who doesn’t want a long life, right?

But what if the longevity means spending down your money for long-term care? And that’s if you’ve been prosperous and have the funds to pay a facility or home health aide to care for you.

Genworth Financial recently released its 2018 Annual Cost of Care survey and found that the annual median cost of care now ranges from $18,720 for adult day-care services to $100,375 for a private room in a nursing home.

I asked readers to share their long-term care experiences, and here’s what they had to say:

“My mother had Alzheimer’s and was in a memory unit for two years,” wrote Chris Gonzales from California. “My dad has been in assisted living for two and half years and for the last two years has needed round-the-clock care. The cost, when my mother was alive, totaled $230,000 a year. The cost to care for dad is now $170,000 a year. This is in Fort Smith, Ark. My brother and I are very lucky that our parents lived below their means, saved, and did extremely well investing their money in the market, so money has not been an issue. We are also grateful for the ladies that watch over our father and consider ourselves extremely lucky to have people we can depend on as we both live out of state.”

“I managed the care of my mother (who had Alzheimer’s disease) from 1998 through 2006,” wrote Debbie Trice of Sarasota, Fla. “Even that long ago, the cost of her care approached $100,000 annually once she had to move from an assisted-living facility to a skilled nursing facility. The actual cost of long-term care goes way beyond the monthly or daily facility charges. Personal expenses (e.g., adult diapers, toiletries, laundry, haircuts) can be significant. I saved some money by purchasing diapers from a wholesaler and toiletries from a discount store and doing mother’s laundry myself. Medications cost more for residents in long-term care, too. Some states require that all medication, including over-the-counter items like aspirin and vitamins, be specially packaged by a pharmacist in blister packs — at extra cost, of course. Staffing is a critical issue. To keep their rates competitive, many facilities limit their staffing levels to the minimum required by law. But then some patients’ needs can’t be adequately addressed. I found it necessary to hire private duty aides to supplement facility staff for a few hours each day.”

Lane Beckham of New Jersey wrote, “Four years ago my wife (then 71) suffered a fall which led to numerous complications over the next year. She has since been bedridden going from a home hospital bed to a wheelchair. She can feed herself, converse, watch television and read catalogues, but that’s about it. We’ve had a 24/7 home health care aide since April 2015 at a current cost of $215 a day or $78,475 a year. A long-term care policy kicks in $100 a day but only for 5 years of benefit days.”
“My mother died two years ago and for the last two years of her life, she had progressively worsening dementia,”

One reader wrote. “We (mainly my sister) arranged for her to be cared for at her home. The cost was running at about $85,000 a year and that was two years ago! Why? At times, she was simply too much for one person to handle, so we often needed two people to stay with her. And while we went with the better-rated agencies, we still had problems with sitters stealing, using drugs, having friends over and even taking my mother out when they needed to run errands. What a nightmare.”

David Treece, an investment adviser and financial planner based in Miami Shores, Fla., has a client with Alzheimer’s who has a Genworth long-term care insurance policy, which so far has paid out about $323,000.

“I have learned nothing will ruin a retirement plan faster than long-term care expenses,” Treece wrote. “Try having to come up with nearly a third of a million dollars like my client if you don’t have coverage. It’s just unimaginable for most people. My biggest concerns for my clients are a group I call ‘the alones.’ These are people who have no spouse, no children, no close siblings and really nobody else. They can’t even name a beneficiary let alone someone to serve as a power of attorney or health-care surrogate. This group seems to be increasing as so many people never had children, are divorced or never married, or are estranged from family. Who is even going to help them? Our society isn’t really set up for this, and I don’t see any easy solutions.”

*****

How comfortable do you feel paying for care out of pocket when your health changes?

  • Have you thought that Long-Term Care insurance would not be needed?
  • Do you plan on spending down to Medicaid, a welfare program and then search for a place that will accept it – and you?

If you are concerned, contact www.TheLongTermCareGuy.com at (920) 884-3030 and schedule a time to investigate with someone who understands and can help you find a way to handle this!

Wisconsin Faces Critical Shortage of Care Workers for Disabled & Elderly

Wisconsin Faces Critical Shortage of Care Workers for Disabled & Elderly!
Wisconsin Faces Critical Shortage of Care Workers for Disabled & Elderly.

Wisconsin Faces Critical Shortage of Care Workers for Disabled & Elderly.

MADISON – Jessica Nell relies on a stranger to help her get in and out of bed every day.  If no one shows up to help her, the 29-year-old Green Bay resident is left immobile — potentially for hours.  Nell, who has cerebral palsy and uses a motorized wheelchair, is one of thousands of Wisconsin residents who need personal care and home care workers to perform daily tasks they can’t do on their own. But finding a worker to come to an individual’s home has become increasingly difficult in Wisconsin due to a lack of available workers.  “There’s constant issues. People not showing up, people showing up at the wrong time,” Nell said. “It’s endless.”

The lack of workers has reached crisis levels in Wisconsin and across the nation, according to long-term care and home care organizations. And Gov. Scott Walker has recommended a 2% increase for each of the next two years, but advocates say more is needed.  A recent survey by disability advocates found that 85% of disabled people and older adults didn’t have enough workers to cover all their shifts. More than 40% of the 500 people surveyed couldn’t find a worker seven or more times a month, according to the review by Survival Coalition, a collection of disability organizations. 

Advocates and health associations have pinpointed low wages without benefits as the cause of the shortage. There’s also an overall lack of appreciation for workers who fill these demanding jobs, they say, leading workers to not view the job as a career.

The workers help with showering, getting dressed, cooking, cleaning, driving and other tasks. Often they are paid through Medicaid, a collection of health care programs funded by the state and federal governments.  Personal care workers typically get paid $10 to $11 an hour, usually without health care benefits, to perform the challenging job of lifting people in and out of bed and helping them with toileting needs, according to Kevin Fech, a team manager with a state personal care program.  “These are the hardest working people and they get paid less than what people make at a fast-food restaurant,” Nell said.

Agencies that manage these workers sometimes lose over half their staff in a year, experiencing a turnover rate of 50%, according to the Wisconsin Personal Services Association, which represents personal care providers.  At the Arc of Fond du Lac — one of the state’s largest care providers for people with developmental and intellectual disabilities — the turnover rate has increased from 5% to 25% in recent years.  David Boelter, executive director at the Arc, has taken steps to retain and recruit high-quality workers in the midst of the shortage. The Arc offers employee referral rewards, sign-on bonuses and health care benefits.  “The more turnover we have on our staff the worse effect it has on our clients,” Boelter said.

Some people employ a friend or relative to provide services.  Fech gets $10 an hour to care for Tyler, his 19-year-old son who has autism, Down syndrome and is nonverbal.

Fech believes it is the best option to provide the care for his son himself because it would be challenging to find a care worker to come at 6 a.m. to get Tyler ready for school at $10 an hour. If a worker was late or didn’t show up, Tyler wouldn’t get to school on time.  Personal hygiene suffers when care workers don’t show up.  “My son doesn’t have the cognitive ability to brush his teeth,” Fech said. “If we weren’t there to help him  brush his teeth … then (he) would start having gum disease and start having abscessed teeth.”

Increase possible

State Rep. Jimmy Anderson (D-Fitchburg) said he once talked to a woman with multiple sclerosis who had to decide if she wanted to shower or eat each day during her Medicaid-funded hour of care because of state cutbacks.  “I think it’s inhumane. It’s damn near disgusting,” Anderson said.  Anderson became paralyzed from the chest down after a serious car accident. He is not on Medicaid, so he pays out of pocket for home health care workers.

Under current law, service providers, like the Arc, get reimbursed through Medicaid at a rate of $16.08 per hour. Walker’s proposed 2% budget increase would raise the rate to $16.40 in 2017-’18 and $16.73 in 2018-’19.  Advocates, although grateful for any increase at all, say the bump is not enough to make any real change. A better rate increase would be around 15%, they say.  “It’s a step in the right direction but still very inadequate,” Boelter said.

Lillian Price, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel  July 21, 20178


Note from TheLongTermCareGuy.com:

It’s only going to get worse.  Medicaid cannot pay more, there are not enough workers, and those who can pay more for care will get care.  I have long-term care insurance, do you?  Get it while healthy – in your fifties is best.  When you have the income or insurance to pay for care, you can pay enough to get good care.  You wouldn’t go without car insurance, why go without this?  HHS says that by 65 we have a 70% chance of needing long-term care.  Do you want to be against those odds?  Call us to investigate options (920) 884-3030

 

You’re Probably Going to Need Medicaid

Long Term Care costs are increasing regularly!
You’re Probably Going to Need Medicaid

You’re Probably Going to Need Medicaid

The Opinion Pages | The New York Times
OP-ED CONTRIBUTORS

By DAVID GRABOWSKI, JONATHAN GRUBER and VINCENT MOR

Imagine your mother needs to move into a nursing home. It’s going to cost her almost $100,000 a year. Very few people have private insurance to cover this. Your mother will most likely run out her savings until she qualifies for Medicaid.

This is not a rare event. Roughly one in three people now turning 65 will require nursing home care at some point during his or her life. Over three-quarters of long-stay nursing home residents will eventually be covered by Medicaid. Many American voters think Medicaid is only for low-income adults and their children — for people who aren’t “like them.” But Medicaid is not “somebody else’s” insurance. It is insurance for all of our mothers and fathers and, eventually, for ourselves.

The American Health Care Act that passed the House and is now being debated by the Senate would reduce spending on Medicaid by over $800 billion, the largest single reduction in a social insurance program in our nation’s history. The budget released by President Trump last month would up the ante by slashing another $600 billion over 10 years from the program. Whether the Senate adopts cuts of quite this magnitude or not, any legislation that passes the Republican Congress is likely to include the largest cuts to the Medicaid program since its inception.

Much focus has rightly been placed on the enormous damage this would do to lower-income families and youth. But what has been largely missing from public discussion is the radical implications that such cuts would have for older and disabled Americans.

Medicaid is our nation’s largest safety net for low-income people, accounting for one-sixth of all health care spending in the United States. But few people seem to know that nearly two-thirds of that spending is focused on older and disabled adults — primarily through spending on long-term care services such as nursing homes.

Indeed, Medicaid pays nearly half of nursing home costs for those who need assistance because of medical conditions like Alzheimer’s or stroke. In some states, overall spending on older and disabled adults amounts to as much as three-quarters of Medicaid spending. As a result, there is no way that the program can shrink by 25 percent (as under the A.H.C.A.) or almost 50 percent (as under the Trump budget), without hurting these people.

A large body of research, some of it by us, has shown that cuts to nursing home reimbursement can have devastating effects on vulnerable patients. Many nursing homes would stop admitting Medicaid recipients and those who don’t have enough assets to ensure that they won’t eventually end up on Medicaid. Older and disabled Medicaid beneficiaries can’t pay out of pocket for services and they do not typically have family members able to care for them. The nursing home is a last resort. Where will they go instead?

Those who are admitted to a nursing home may not fare much better. Lowering Medicaid reimbursement rates lead to reductions in staffing, particularly of nurses. Research by one of us shows that a cut in the reimbursement rate of around 10 percent leads to a functional decline of nursing home residents (that is, a decline in their ability to walk or use the bathroom by themselves) of almost 10 percent. It also raises the odds that they will be in persistent pain by 5 percent, and the odds of getting a bedsore by 2 percent.

Finally, these cuts would just shift costs to the rest of the government. Lower-quality nursing home care leads to more hospitalizations, and for Americans over 65, these are paid for by another government program, Medicare. One-quarter of nursing home residents are hospitalized each year, and the daily cost of caring for them more than quadruples when they move to the hospital. Research shows that a reduction in nursing home reimbursements of around 10 percent leads to a 5 percent rise in the odds that residents will be hospitalized. So care for seniors suffers, and the taxpayer pays.

Mr. Trump and the Republicans would lower spending on the frailest and most vulnerable people in our health care system. They would like most Americans to believe that these cuts will not affect them, only their “undeserving” neighbors. But that hides the truth that draconian cuts to Medicaid affect all of our families. They are a direct attack on our elderly, our disabled and our dignity.

David Grabowski is a professor of health care policy at Harvard Medical School. Jonathan Gruber is a professor of economics at M.I.T. Vincent Mor is a professor of health care policy at Brown.


Comment from Romeo Raabe TheLongTermCareGuy.com:

There are too many of us baby boomers, and we did not have enough children to tax and pay for this, or staff the facilities we will need.  Those with money always fare better.  I have long Term Care insurance to pay for my care, what is your plan?

Call us @ 1-800-219-9203 to investigate, before you can no longer qualify to purchase this insurance.

Please CONTACT US today so we can help protect YOUR money!

You’re Probably Going to Need Medicaid!

 

Coming Political Changes Affecting Long Term Care

Coming Political Changes Affecting Long Term Care
Coming Political Changes Affecting Long Term Care

Coming Political Changes Affecting Long Term Care

Yes changes are coming.  The federal government is very interested in moving programs back to states to handle and Medicaid is one of those.

The way this most likely would happen is to “block grant” Medicaid to the states.  Give each state a fixed sum of money each year for Medicaid and let each state set their plans and rules themselves.

Will this mean less federal dollars for each state?  Yes

Will this mean less money for the people who need and rely on Medicaid? No

If states are freed to set rules that make sense, they will do so and direct Medicaid to those whom it was meant for in the first place.  Let me explain.  Currently, in Wisconsin, a married spouse of a Medicaid recipient for Long Term Care can keep a house worth up to $828,000.  Medicaid will attempt to “recover” from this house after the last death.

Wisconsin does not have a large number of houses or homes of this value.  Often Medicaid is not successful in recovering the money they spent on care after the last death.  Since reverse mortgages allow the at-home spouse to live in the house, why not require that money used first, before taxpayer dollars?

Secondly, the at-home spouse can keep between $50,000 and $119,220 of savings in their name for future needs.  However, the at-home spouse’s IRA is not counted as an asset.  This means that the at-home spouse could have a million dollars or more in an IRA while the taxpayers pay the bills for the institutionalized spouse in a nursing home.

How do you feel, as a taxpayer, to be financing the Long Term Care costs of people with millions in assets between expensive homes and IRA accounts?  If those who can pay for their own Long Term Care must do so, there will be a lot of money available for those who truly need Long Term Care and cannot pay for it.  Unfortunately, Medicaid has become a free money feeding trough for those who know how to access and not spend their own money.

These changes may happen quickly.  If you have been planning to have your Long Term Care paid for by Medicaid, and suddenly that rug is pulled out from under you, will you be too old, too unhealthy to purchase Long Term Care insurance?

There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth for those who did not feel they needed to plan for something like this which Health and Human Services (HHS) says that 70% of us who have reached age 65 will need in our lifetimes.

Once you have a bone density problem on record, or have had a stroke, or have diabetes, or a diagnosis of a hundred different health concerns that might lead to needing care – it will be too late to get such insurance coverage.

Don’t be among the wailers and gnashers later.  Investigate Long Term Care insurance while you can still get it.  30% of 60 year olds can no longer buy Long Term Care insurance.  Investigate this with experts.  Call TheLongTermCareGuy.com while you still have time, and let us guide through investigating your options.  Call (920) 884-3030

What to Look for in LTC for 2017?

What to Look for in LTC This Year?
None of this is cast is stone, but some very good things are likely to happen regarding LTC in 2017!

None of this is cast is stone, but some very good things are likely to happen regarding LTC in 2017!

None of this is cast is stone, but some very good things are likely to happen regarding LTC in 2017!

The new administration is likely to make changes that will affect LTC financing.  First of all is the good news that the feds plan several interest rate increases next year.  Insurance companies make their money not off the premiums they collect, but from the billions they must keep on deposit for claims.  They have not been earning s**t lately, but that will change.  For LTCi, this means the end of, or a significant slowdown on pressure to raise rates.  Hey, they’ve been promising 5% compound inflation and only earning 3%, they can’t go on like that.

Many states would like to make changes to how Medicaid (which pays for the majority of LTC) is divied up.  Most Medicaid dollars go toward LTC costs.  By block granting Medicaid to the states and letting them determine how to best use those dollars, a lot of abuse can be stopped.

Right now, your spouse can have $2,000,000 in an IRA or 401k and it is not a countable asset in determining if you get Medicaid for your LTC.  We are giving Medicaid to millionaires – literally!!!  We also let the at home spouse keep the home equity and perhaps, maybe, if we are lucky, recover some of it later.  Does this make sense, let’s give Medicaid to people who have money to pay their bills and then see if they will pay it back if they want to later?  Really?

If the general public realizes they will need to use up their nest egg, and spend the house equity first, before they get government Medicaid, they will line up to buy LTCi – assuming they are still healthy enough to get it.  There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth by those who are no longer eligible to buy such coverage.  Don’t let your clients be among the wailers and gnashers, ask them NOW, how will you pay for care when your health changes.  Or, Would an extra bill of $40,000 to $120,000 every year, be a problem in your retirement?

Things are going to change, you can only kick the can down the road so far before your toe, the can, or the road runs out.

Once interest rates come back up, LTC insurance companies will re-enter the market.  They will have leaner products (remember the lifetime benefits sold years ago?).  They will have products that limit their exposure and increase your clients’ exposure.  Companies are getting killed by dementia and Alzheimer’s as those claims go on for years and years and years…..  Yes, Alzheimer’s does tend to run in families, have you asked your clients about their family history and exposure to this?

I still have LTCi available with a 10 year benefit.  And 5% compound automatic built in inflation on that benefit.  Get some while the getting is good.

Is Motel 6 WhereYou Plan To Retire?

Tom Bodette will leave the light on for you, but do you really want to stay there?

I surely do not! And I do not want to end up in a welfare nursing home either. Many people think that you get the same care on Medicaid as you would by paying for your care. The problem is the Medicaid reimbursement is so far below market rates only the Motel 6’s of nursing homes or assisted living homes will accept you.

You’ve planned to have a comfortable retirement, and unless you can afford 6 figures a year for a nursing home, or over $50,000 for a nice assisted living facility or home care, you should be looking into LTC insurance while still healthy enough to get it. Every year it is tougher to get this coverage, the benefits are shorter, and the costs are higher. Get it while the getting is good.

But you’ve heard that this insurance is very expensive.  From proposals my clients have shown me, it is – when it is not appropriately chosen.

How does over $850,000 of benefits for a 65 year old (male of female) for less than $2000 per year premium sound?  Say you pay this premium for 20 years until you are 85 years old.  You spent less than $40,000 for over $850,000 of coverage, is that expensive?  Is it affordable for you?

Today, less than 15% of Long-Term Care is done in nursing homes.  Thus, just like flood or earthquake endorsement on your homeowners insurance, many people choose not to cover the nursing home, but purchase just enough LTC insurance to cover home care, assisted living facilities, or adult day care.

Then bear in mind that when someone needs care, their lifestyle changes drastically.  No need for the second (or third) vehicle, vacation travel drops, less golf, boats, campers, motorcycles, etc. to support when they can’t be played with.  Most people can cover a good part of the cost of LTC by simply repositioning the dollars from things they can’t do anymore.  Interest on your life savings can help as well without depleting the balance.

OK – here is the fine print.  65 year old, male or female, buys a $70/day benefit.  This plus available income and interest may be sufficient.  It will give you 10 years of collecting when you need care and INCLUDES an automatic 5% compound increase on your benefits every year.

You pay $1980.94 per year for 20 years.  On the 21st year you need care and file a claim which starts at $185/day (remember the automatic inflation included) and will increase over the 10 years you collect until it reaches $288 per day for a total of $852,603 paid out to you.  If your care costs less, you get all the money for every day of care regardless.

If you can’t find a deal this good with an A+ rated company, no matter where in the USA you live, call (800) 219-9203 and talk to us at www.TheLongTermCareGuy.com

 

 

LTC Insurance is Too Expensive!

Lately I have seen clients shown proposals to purchase Long-Term Care insurance with premiums exceeding $10,000 a year for a couple.  This is ridiculously expensive for most couples in their fifties, and is probably because the insurance amounts are way too large to be appropriate.

Some insurance agents who “dabble” in LTC insurance products think that everyone needs enough insurance to cover the entire bill.  Perhaps they themselves have zero deductible car insurance, which makes no sense either.

If we have a car accident, most of us have some deductible that we will pay before the insurance pays the rest.  The larger the deductible, the lower the insurance premium.  With most car accidents, our lifestyle does not drastically change, but when LTC is needed, it does.

If one of a couple needs LTC, they are probably not driving anymore.  Thus fewer cars, less motorcycles, boats, campers, snowmobiles, ATV’s, etc. will be needed.  There will be less trips to Branson, Disney World, cruises, even less going out to dinner when one has a difficult time going anywhere.

Professionals who specialize in LTC planning take these things into consideration.  We try to help our clients predict how much of their monthly income is actually required to pay the basic bills, and with less toys and travel – how much of the bill for LTC they can pay out of pocket.

In addition to monthly cash flow, many people can also contribute the interest their savings earn, without touching the principal.  Often, the total between available cash flow and monthly interest will cover a significant portion of LTC costs.  Only the shortfall needs to come from LTC insurance.

Here is an example for a 65 year old couple.  They want to be able to pay for home care and assisted living facility care without using up their life savings.  If they do not need to support 2 cars, the extra Corvette “summer car”, the boat, and they understand that when one cannot travel, that expense drops to zero as well, they can pay the majority of the cost of home or assisted living facility care.

Many people plan for just those costs as very few people today need the care of a nursing home, especially if they can afford their home or assisted living care.

In their case it is determined that an additional $2000 a month from LTC insurance will suffice.  At age 65 for each, and both in good health, they can purchase that coverage with a 10 year benefit when care is needed, including an automatic 5% compound inflation rider on the monthly benefit for less than $2000 a year each.

With the automatic, built in 5% compound inflation on the benefits payable, by age 85, a 10 year length of claim can give them over $850,000 from the LTC insurance to pay for their care.

Let’s review, at age 65 they purchase LTC insurance that will give them over $850,000 to pay for care over 10 years starting if care is needed at 85, for $1900 a year.  Is a premiumk of less than $2000 a year expensive for that?

If you have been shown sky high premiums for LTC insurance, you need to shop around before you buy.  Talk to someone who has over 23 years experience in planning for LTC, and can help you size coverage appropriately.  Just give us a call at TheLongTermCareGuy.com at (920) 884-3030 or (800) 219-9203 and lets investigate.  But don’t wait until your health fails, becasue then it may be too late, for you.

Where’s The Disconnect

This post, in it’s entirety, is reprinted from a chapter in the book “Surviving Alzheimer’s with Friends, Facebook, and a Really Big Glass of Wine”, written by my very good friend Honey Leveen, a first rate Long-Term Care insurance agent in Houston, TX

“Where’s the Disconnect?” by Honey Leveen, The Queen, by Self-Proclamation, of Long-Term Care Insurance

Insurance disclaimer: The following is based on the author’s personal experiences and opinions.

Much of the legacy we leave may be measured by how honestly we’ve dealt with life’s most painful truths. Often, such truths are the most obvious, yet hardest to see clearly.

I’ve specialized in long-term care insurance (LTCi) since 1990.  That’s a long time.  I’ve seen a few hundred of my nearly 3,000 clients collect from policies I’ve sold them. This is just the tip of the iceberg, however; many more will need to collect from their LTCi as time goes on.

I see scenarios just like Dayna’s [as described in Surviving Alzheimer’s] play out again and again. For different reasons, when a parent needs LTC, family members who’ve always gotten along well may find themselves at odds with each other. It is exactly as Dayna describes. The absence of sufficient, readily available money to swiftly access long-term care (LTC) aggravates an already highly stressful situation.

People who own LTCi also commonly suffer familial dysfunction similar to Dayna’s. What makes things so different for them is that their LTCi policies pay out significant, meaningful amounts of money when LTC is needed. This is often a huge game changer. LTCi tends to subdue the emotional discord Dayna describes. Relationships don’t suffer as much, and outcomes are better. The money people collect from LTCi provides them with dignity, choices, access, and options they would not have otherwise had.

Sadly, most of us still do not own LTCi. Sadder still, it is too often well-educated people with good incomes and a whole lot to lose who choose to be unprepared for LTC.

Such people come up with what they think are fabulous excuses to avoid discussing what might happen to them at the end of their lives. There seems to be a disconnect between our intellect and our emotions when it comes to LTC planning.

According to www.longtermcare.gov and other reputable sources, at age 65, there’s a 70% chance of needing LTC. These odds go up with each year we age. Visit Genworth’s Cost of Care Calculator (find it in the Resources area of www.honeyleveen.com) to see just how expensive LTC is in your locale.

Most LTC in the US is provided on an unpaid basis, disproportionately by women, who often have to sacrifice their careers, savings, and relationships to provide care.* LTC already costs American families dearly, yet the worst of this crisis is yet to come.

As former First Lady Rosalynn Carter said, “There are only four kinds of people in this world: those who have been caregivers, those who are caregivers, those who will be caregivers, and those who will need caregivers.”

Here are some simple responses to major misconceptions about LTC and LTCi. More complex answers are found on www.honeyleveen.com or by calling me, at no obligation:

LTCi is too expensive. Not true. What may be expensive is needing LTC for anything but a short time and not owning LTCi. Policyholders usually collect back all premiums they’ve paid over the life of their policy in a few short months. Premiums are customized for each person and can be made to fit into almost anyone’s budget. *

The government pays for LTC. The type of LTC the government pays for is not what you would freely choose. *

Medicare covers LTC. No it doesn’t! Medicare covers acute medical problems and a restrictive, conditional amount of home or in-patient rehabilitative care that most people don’t qualify for.*

The LTCi industry is threatened. It’s true that the number of carriers selling LTCi has shrunk; there are valid reasons.* Policyholders are not in danger.* LTCi carriers remain staunchly committed to the market. They realize the LTC crisis and oncoming Senior Tsunami isn’t going away any time soon, and are in it for the long run.*

LTCi only pays for nursing homes. The opposite is true. The great majority of LTCi policies pay comprehensively, for care at home, in adult day care, assisted living, and nursing homes. They enable you to increase the odds you will not need LTC provided in a nursing home.*

Here are some of many silly excuses smart people give me to avoid conversing about LTCi while they’re healthy and can find reasonable premiums:

My wife will take care of me. Really? Your wife will be eager and physically capable of helping you bathe and dress, for example? You don’t mind the thought of her last memories being about the physical, emotional and financial burdens of caring for you?

That won’t happen to me. Really?

My kids will take care of me. Really?

I’ll kill myself.

I can’t afford LTCi. Many people claim LTCi is too expensive, despite the fact that we tailor LTCi premiums to fit into most people’s budgets. Situations like this one happen frequently: an acquaintance tells me she can’t afford LTCi premiums. This person’s mother needed LTC for an extended length of time, at great sacrifice to the family. A week later this person announces she is making a two week trip to Mt. Everest Base Camp/African photo safari/Tahiti or another exotic locale, or is buying a top-of-the-line car/kayak/audio equipment, etc. She has the money to do that but can’t afford LTC premiums. Where’s the disconnect?

Here’s another common scenario: I get incoming calls with Caller ID stating: “METHODIST HOSP RE-HAB”. The caller is the daughter or son of someone who’s just broken their hip or suffered a stroke. They ask me to come sell their parent LTCi. I have the unpleasant task of trying to tactfully explain that their parent is uninsurable. Sometimes the child is incensed by this news. I suggest the child is of ideal age to find reasonably priced LTCi for themselves; this might be a wise idea if they want to assure a similar scenario doesn’t play out when at the end of their lives. The child is normally not interested. The reason is that the family is in the worst kind of turmoil, duress, and dysfunction. They are scurrying around trying to cobble together LTC for their parent, and there isn’t sufficient, readily accessible money to pay for it. This is the scenario Dayna and I urge you to avoid by doing reasonable, responsible LTC planning, now.

What all of my LTCi clients have in common, regardless of their incomes, is the ability to honestly, openly discuss LTC in advance. Most of my clients have had firsthand experiences similar to Dayna’s. They’ve learned from them, and taken action to avoid the consequences of not being prepared for their own long-term care.

If you need to investigate whether LTC insurance is appropriate for you – or not, give www.TheLongTermCareGuy.com a call at (920) 884-3030 and lets see.