My mom is 80 and poor health. Can she get long term care insurance (plan, coverage)

[jobseeker2013]

Is it too late? She can dress and bath herself but can not walk. She would qualify for assisted living. Would it be worth at least attempting to get it?

[Parnassia]

Originally Posted by jobseeker2013

Is it too late? She can dress and bath herself but can not walk. She would qualify for assisted living. Would it be worth at least attempting to get it?

Do you mean wanting it to pay for the residential aspects of assisted living? Depends on the specific insurer plan. Hard to say without approaching individual providers within her state of residence. If they will even offer her coverage the premiums may be astronomically expensive. FWIW, when my employer first started offering access to LTC policies some providers extended consideration to direct family members. I applied and still have that coverage. My father considered applying as well. He was in his mid 70s, no significant preexisting conditions, non-smoker, etc. The premium quote was much higher than he was willing to pay.

[Hemlock140]

The LTC we have was started in our early 40s, and is available only ages 35–69 (65 for tobacco users). The idea of insurance is that by the time you need it you have made significant payments so that the provider ends up making money. I can't imagine that they would take on someone age 80, and if they did, the cost would be almost as much as paying for the assisted living. If she has no assets, and cannot afford the $4,000+/month for assisted living, see if your state offers Medicaid. When my mother-in-law reached that stage at 82, it took considerable effort but after paying for the first couple of months we got her on Medicaid, and the adult family home got all but $50 of her Social Security checks, the state paid the balance. She happily made it to age 95 there. Good luck with your difficult dilemma.

[FrannyBear]

I am sorry to say but yes -- it is too late. You might see if there is any assisted living for low income or modest income folks in your county or state. But be advised -- all her assets and income will be considered -- there is no way around that problem. And it is still pretty expensive. Remember, once you qualify for Medicaid it is the taxpayers who are footing the bill -- so they are going to consider ALL her assets and her social security. The only other option is to hire private aides (about $30 per hour in my area) or have a relative live with you. It's a super hard dilemma but if she is only 80 and already cannot walk -- you need to make a plan. My mom was in assisted living and it cost $10,200 a month at the highest care level -- she could not walk but she was only in a short time.

[athena53]

I agree that it's unlikely she'll qualify. DH and I used to know an agent who sold LTC and he said he could get me a policy easily but not DH, who was likely to go "on claim" sooner. At the time I was probably 55 and DH was 70. DH died at age 78 and never saw the inside of a LTC facility.

Its sort of like buying hurricane insurance after hurricane warnings have been posted- which you can't do, either. Good luck with the local support programs- they seem to be her best option.