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First, you have to stop looking at Long Term Care insurance as "nursing home" insurance, it's really NOT that. It's really there to keep you in your own home as long as possible utilizing the policy for in-home care and then, if needed, a nursing home. If you look at the policy for what it is, 50% of all adults could use a LTC policy sometime in their life but what happens instead is a spouse takes care of an ailing spouse, ruining her/his health in the mean time vs having the funds to hire a professional to come in and care for that person.
That's an excellent point and one that many people overlook when discussing LTC.
Location: Prescott Valley,az summer/east valley Az winter
2,061 posts, read 4,134,299 times
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I wouldn't do without my LTC insurance as both my grandmother and my mother really needed it for quite a while. Just because they ask you a question after the initial questionnaire doesn't say you do not qualify. The phone interview went something like " you said you were just hospitalized for a short period, why was that? "" I was injured in a workplace accident" " oh, I see ~ and you are talking to me from a jobsite?" "yes" " you qualify" My premiums are less than my wife's"
dekdoc, how much are you paying and for what kind of coverage?
My aunt had LTCI policy so I do know they’re not just for ‘nursing homes.’ Depending on the policy it has various home and assistance benefits, as well.
Mom is 87 and doesn't have one, and obviously it's too late to get one. I'm 53 and IF it ONLY cost 60.00 a month I MIGHT get it – but the AARP item said premiums for just “so-so” policies are 2,000 a year – that’s 166 dollars a MONTH – not the 600-700 a year some have said.
Those of you paying just that amount or a few hundred a year how old are you? and what coverage do you get for that?
Even if I couldn’t afford a ‘cadillac’ policy (which of course is what I’d prefer) -- I sure as heck wouldn’t want a bargain basement one either. And let’s not forget the per day deductible you still may have to come up with after you start claiming benefits.
200.00 a month is waaay beyond my affordability level. That would be my most expensive insurance -- more than my car insurance – my share of my job’s health insurance – and, I think, more than my home owner’s, too.
And what if you pay for DECADES only to have them raise the premium so you CAN’T afford it anymore – THEN what? You really have wasted your money.
Maybe I’m just in sticker shock as I start investigating the finances of LTCI, and the cost benefit analysis that goes into this whole issue.
Some of the various premium factors:
-- how much you want the benefit to pay per day (daily benefit - 100.00-250.00)
-- how long before the benefits kick in (benefit period - 1 year to 5 years or more)
-- how long before benefits may begin (elimination period - 0 to 90 days)
-- inflation growth option (protects against cost of inflation - no inflation or future growth or built in growth)
There are a lot of variables to consider, and of course, you don't know which of them will turn out to be most important in your own case or even that any of them will turn out to be of any importance at all. But things only get worse as time goes by. Putting off the decision may actually be deciding in many cases. The costs of not having coverage when you need it are severe.
If they paid out a refund at death to a family member, then the insurance company wouldn't have enough money to pay for care for the people who need it. Do you understand how insurance works? Everyone pays in, but the people who end up not needing it help subsidize the people who do end up needing it. That's why countries with universal health insurance require the young and healthy to pay in.
If they paid out a refund at death to a family member, then the insurance company wouldn't have enough money to pay for care for the people who need it.
Return-of-premium and refund-of-premium riders are actually common across the LTC market. Most (if not all) states require that LTC providers offer some form of such a rider, but do not mandate that a consumer purchase it.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ruth4Truth
Do you understand how insurance works? Everyone pays in, but the people who end up not needing it help subsidize the people who do end up needing it.
Yes, that's the fundamental principle underlying all insurance alright. But of course this is also the very sort of risk-sharing and income-redistribution that various anti-social types will see as communistic, unconstitutional, and anti-American theft of their hard-earned money.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ruth4Truth
That's why countries with universal health insurance require the young and healthy to pay in.
There is nothing special about UHC programs here. Unlike private sector insurance schemes, state-run programs have no need of generating profits sufficient to alter the skylines of every mid-sized or larger city in the land. They merely need to keep their premiums and benefits in balance over various time frames.
dekdoc, how much are you paying and for what kind of coverage?
My aunt had LTCI policy so I do know they’re not just for ‘nursing homes.’ Depending on the policy it has various home and assistance benefits, as well.
Mom is 87 and doesn't have one, and obviously it's too late to get one. I'm 53 and IF it ONLY cost 60.00 a month I MIGHT get it – but the AARP item said premiums for just “so-so” policies are 2,000 a year – that’s 166 dollars a MONTH – not the 600-700 a year some have said.
Those of you paying just that amount or a few hundred a year how old are you? and what coverage do you get for that?
Even if I couldn’t afford a ‘cadillac’ policy (which of course is what I’d prefer) -- I sure as heck wouldn’t want a bargain basement one either. And let’s not forget the per day deductible you still may have to come up with after you start claiming benefits.
200.00 a month is waaay beyond my affordability level. That would be my most expensive insurance -- more than my car insurance – my share of my job’s health insurance – and, I think, more than my home owner’s, too.
And what if you pay for DECADES only to have them raise the premium so you CAN’T afford it anymore – THEN what? You really have wasted your money.
Maybe I’m just in sticker shock as I start investigating the finances of LTCI, and the cost benefit analysis that goes into this whole issue.
Some of the various premium factors:
-- how much you want the benefit to pay per day (daily benefit - 100.00-250.00)
-- how long before the benefits kick in (benefit period - 1 year to 5 years or more)
-- how long before benefits may begin (elimination period - 0 to 90 days)
-- inflation growth option (protects against cost of inflation - no inflation or future growth or built in growth)
You can get a on-line , instant, free, anonymous quote for LTCI. It only asks your age and State, and select various daily benefit (100-500) and 3 or 5 year period. See here http://www.johnhancockltc.com/indivi...estimator.aspx
A quick try for age 53 in CT with $200/day, 3 yr plan was about $200/month. YMMV.
When my mom was in the nursing home about 7 years ago, it was $4000/month--does that $2000 annually still look bad?
Quote:
That's because a bad back is one of the leading claims for disability and LTC....if the insurance companies are such bloodsuckers, why do you even care that you don't have LTC insurance--or why did you even apply??
Um, see above?? I do think they are bloodsuckers for lots of reasons (trying to push expensive, inappropriate policies, etc.), but LTC is a necessary evil. And I do think it is absolutely ridiculous that the refusal to underwrite a policy for me (every underwrite with whom my agent works, not just one) was based entirely on the fact that I am undergoing MAINTENANCE care for earlier treatment that FIXED my problem. I go to PT to maintain my good health & muscle tone & alignment so I DON'T suffer from back problems. Rather than punish me, those idiots should reward me. I am the patient who will most likely NOT use up their coverage. But the mere fact that I see a PT at all tossed me out. Stupid.
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On-Line LTCI Quote
