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Yes it is indexed. As costs have been going up the past 5 years or so we are planning on getting another $50/day added to our policies-just haven't yet.
DON'T shop on premium alone. Who are these policies with-THAT is much more important. 20 years ago there were 1500 companies in the LTC market, today there are 30 and only about 3 that have 90% of the market. You want to be with one of those three for sure.
Also, 4 years of care does you NO good, you want at least 5 because there is a 5 year lookback for Medicaid in most states, some are 7 and some are moving toward 10. Having more than 5 years allows you to take advantage of the look back period and distribute your assets accordingly--legally. The average time spent in a long term claim is over 10 years. Most people start in-home a few days/week, then every day, then maybe all day/overnight, then move into a nursing home. My mom would have been on claim for 20 years.
The Alzheimer's statistic is not clear because it indicates it is from initial diagnosis till death. As soon as someone is initially diagnosed, they don't necessarily need care. So I am deducing that that statement must mean something else . . .like once a person is institutionalized with a diagnosis of Alzheimer's till death . . .
So golfgal said the average claim is ten years. I doubt that statistic but would like to know why she posted it and where it came from.
Don't confuse being in a nursing home only with Long Term Care. MOST long term care claims start in the home with in home health care-Alzheimer's is a good example. Say someone needs 2 hours/day of care 3 days/week. That is still a long term care claim. Yes, the average stay in a nursing home is only a couple years but by then, most people will have been cared for by family members or other social services to the point where they can't care for them in the home any longer.
If you read some of the information here you will find some interesting information-including 13 million people currently receiving long term care benefits are under the age of 64-which according to this: Understanding LTC Basics ? (http://www.longtermcare.gov/LTC/Main_Site/Understanding_Long_Term_Care/Basics/Basics.aspx - broken link) is 40% of the people on claim. As well as stating that 79% of the people over 65 will need long term care at some point.
Again, most people think of long term care as being in a wheelchair in a hospital and don't think of the people that can function, for the most part, in their homes but need help getting out of bed and taking a shower (which would qualify you for a long term care claim).
There are some great graphics showing average stay in each "type" of care facility-it shows on average people receive 3-5 years care at home, 2.5-3 years in "assisted living" and about 2.4 years in a nursing home-all totaled 8-10.4 years on claim. What is Long Term Care?
Another useful publication from the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (a conglomerate of all the state insurance regulatory boards)
The other approach is to qualify for medicare. Make sure the bulk of you net worth is in your primary residence. Gift away other assets soon enough to beat the look back period.
Haven't read through this thread completely, so someone else has probably touched on this -- but MEDICARE is available to anyone who is 65 and not destitute.
Medicaid is the gov't health care for the poor - and does not depend on age.
And qualifying for medicaid means you are BROKE. Really really poor. So if that's how you want to live in your old age - go right ahead. But, for the rest of us, a sensible insurance plan and enough money to not depend on cat food as a major protein source does not sound like a bad idea.
Haven't read through this thread completely, so someone else has probably touched on this -- but MEDICARE is available to anyone who is 65 and not destitute.
Medicaid is the gov't health care for the poor - and does not depend on age.
And qualifying for medicaid means you are BROKE. Really really poor. So if that's how you want to live in your old age - go right ahead. But, for the rest of us, a sensible insurance plan and enough money to not depend on cat food as a major protein source does not sound like a bad idea.
As far as qualifying for government support to pay for nursing homes:
Depends on what your definition of "broke" is. The government's definition means you have a small amount of assets and a small income - but that doesn't include your $1.8M primary residence.
As far as qualifying for government support to pay for nursing homes:
Depends on what your definition of "broke" is. The government's definition means you have a small amount of assets and a small income - but that doesn't include your $1.8M primary residence.
Yes it does include your home. The only way you can keep your home if you go on Medicaid is if you have a spouse that lives there, otherwise you will be forced to sell your home and use the proceeds for your care. Once your spouse dies or moves out of the house, it will be sold and the proceeds used to pay for nursing home care. You keep bringing this up and people keep showing you are wrong about that. You can have $2300 in your bank account and you get about $80/month of spending money if you are on Medicaid and they are paying for your nursing home care.
Yes it does include your home. The only way you can keep your home if you go on Medicaid is if you have a spouse that lives there, otherwise you will be forced to sell your home and use the proceeds for your care. Once your spouse dies or moves out of the house, it will be sold and the proceeds used to pay for nursing home care.
From a quickee internet search, this is the way it is done in Rhode Island and I'd bet most states operate the same way:
Will the State take my house if I go into a nursing home?
No. The State of Rhode Island will not take your primary residence at any time while you are alive or your spouse is alive. The State may hold a lien [see below the success rate of this effort] against your estate after your death, at which time the house may need to be sold to satisfy the lien. However, the lien is never placed while you are alive, and if you are survived by a spouse living in the residence, the lien is extinguished at your death.
"Congress has periodically tried to clamp down on abuses but usually ends up making things worse. In 1993 it passed a law requiring states to recover the cost of benefits from the estates of deceased recipients (or from the estates of the spouses they pre-decease). This bombed, as most states make only half-hearted efforts to recover Medicaid costs. In 2002, state Medicaid programs spent $46.5 billion on nursing home care but recovered a measly $350 million from estates."
In Maine:
Myth: The State will take my house.
The Truth: Federal law requires each state to seek reimbursement of medical assistance paid through the Medicaid program. In Maine, repayment is pursued after the death of the MaineCare recipient through a claim against the decedent’s estate. Maine’s DHHS does not take a home or even file a lien against a home while a MaineCare recipient is living, although often the individual in the nursing home is forced to sell the home when there is no longer adequate income to maintain it.
from
15 MYTHS REGARDING MEDICAID NURSING HOME BENEFITS IN MAINE (http://www.maineelderlaw.com/mainecare-planning.htm - broken link)
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