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1. What if your health is not good enough to qualify.
2. I have read that Medicaid can recover their costs incurred by you after you die.
3. Ballpark of your annual premium for your particular plan?
what if your health excludes you ?
that depends on the assets and reasons you want insurance. if you don't have all that much to protect than why bother .
but another option is a linked benefit policy.
they are less strict although you can still be rejected,.
as far how they work ?
imagine you have some cash doing nothing like emergency money or money you really were going to use to self insure . well you buy a multifunction policy with quite a few twists.
it is kind of like moving the money from your left pocket to your right pocket.
once you give them this money to hold they give you 2 to 3x that amount if you need care .
if you don't use it for care you can leave it to heirs and they get 2x the money .
but the best part is any time after the first two years you can have all your money back , no hitches if you decide to kill the deal.
can the at home spouse live on the levels of income medicaid allows in your state once medicaid kicks in because the assets are gone ? that is the big issue once your assets are depleted . i know we couldn't even pay the taxes on the house they let us keep with what they allow ..
The first thing I did upon retiring is move to a low property tax state.
Property taxes are so low they would not be a concern.
I come from a different viewpoint from Mathjak. I'm single and don't need to leave anything to heirs. I do not have LTCI.
Currently, I am researching Longevity Annuities and QLAC (qualified longevity annuity contract). Apparently you can invest a relatively small sum and set it to start paying at an older age, up to 85. You could use this to pay the higher costs of care at older ages. Some people would use them to put IRA money into, reducing their RMDs and not paying taxes until the annuity starts paying. I haven't investigated any specific ones, and I do have the same concerns with them as I do with LTCI. Payouts depend on whether the company is still solvent when payments begin.
Secondly, I live in a state where care is MUCH cheaper than NYC. My 94 year old mother has been in an ALF since my father died 3 years ago. She pays for it with her widow's pension and her own small SS payment. She adds a small amount from her savings. They both lived through the Depression and saved and invested to produce a shocking (to me) amount. For about $4000/month she has a 1BR apartment, a certain number of care hours per week, all meals (with choices and a decent chef) and full housekeeping. It's a nice place, looks more like a nice hotel. They have lots of activities. The staff are kind to her and solicitous. If she needs more care, she can add it there.
If you don't want to try to live forever, having every possible medical intervention even if useless, then you don't need to amass a huge fortune to pay for years in a nursing home, if you are in a lower cost state. Do a DNR, specify no feeding tube or respirator, and your time in a skilled nursing home will be shorter.
Also I recommend screening places while you are still able to.
Windwalker2, I looked into the QLAC too. The problems that I saw with the QLAC under current law is that the premium limit is only 25% of your qualified account or $125,000 whichever is less, there is no growth component during the deferral years, it is a rigid contract with no liquidity and no cash surrender value. I like the QLAC for deferring the RMD to start at 85, but that is for tax planning purposes only.
There are Long-Term Care Annuies that allow you to retain control of your money while maintaining some long-term care coverage. It's a single-premium product. This type of annuity helps you to avoid rising premiums for Long-Term Care coverage. It also allows you to have the same tax treatment as traditional l/t care insurance, and if you don't use the l/t care portion, you still have the fixed annuity. But, this type of product has limited coverage and they are getting difficult to find companies who offer them since ACA became law.
It seems to me your are saying that you simply reject the idea of receiving medical care because yes, any doctor with integrity is going to need to know what is wrong with us before he prescribes any treatment or medication, and that knowledge comes from tests as well as physical examination. What it is about having blood drawn that makes you say "never again"? I have blood drawn about twice a year to monitor certain things, and it is no big deal. Usually only small children are afraid and/or traumatized by such routine procedures.
Are you saying that if you fell and suspected that you have a broken bone, you would refuse to have it x-rayed? Why are such tests "not even a consideration"? It seems to me your stance is irrational in the extreme.
With due respect, ER - methinks you come off a tad patronizing here.
As if: from your vantage atop the Mount, you sigh. Then patiently impart The Truth - once more - to the mortals below. In this case, you interpret Branson's remark literally, and to the max, with amazement (a tactic I have witnessed more than once in the lawyer-infested mazes of DC).
Tends to put the witness on the defensive: "In other words, you admit you are guilty of the crime!". "Not at all. I WILL NOT drive 500 miles one way to appear in court to dispute a $15 parking ticket" kind of thing.
You must not be familiar with Branson's philosophy. Medical professionals and pharmaceutical companies are the enemies of mankind and are just out to prey on you. In fact, they go out of their way to give advice to people that is contrary to their good health. They don't want to cure you of anything, they just want to keep treating you and keep you sick so that they can make money hand over fist. For example, did you know that all vaccines are just a scam that do absolutely nothing for you?
Apparently, there is not a disease known to man that can't be cured be eating a better diet and getting a rich, deep tan. The one thing you don't want to do is go to a doctor, get diagnosed with something that he just made up, and then spend money on prescription drugs that do you no good.
Mad, your comment is mean-spirited and dismissive - not to mention sexist.
I hope to break my neck falling off my horse at a full gallop on a fine day. No nursing home needed. R.N. will never stand for Retired Nurse.
I have seen these places, they are hidious, even the nice ones. To warehouse old people like stacked firewood....for profit!
In New Zealand do you know how they do? They have little places with clusters of tiny cottages. Each old person has their own little place. They grow gardens of flowers and nurses come check on them and look after them. I think they all go eat at a kitchen there.
Someday, I would like to buy an old Victorian house, make wheelchair ramps, ect, and have a sort of an old folks commune. Everybody kicks in what $ they can to support the house. The old ladies could snap beans on the porch, the old guys could go fishing or fix an old car in the driveway, or old guys could also snap beans and ladies could go fishing. Someone (like me for instance) could give out the medicine and give nursing care. Yea, eventually, people would get too old to get out of bed or too demented, but they could still have activities and stay engaged with the household. The younger old people coming to live there could help take care of the older old people. Thats part of the deal for when they thenselves get old and all stove up as we say in the country. This is how I myself would like to be treated. What do you all think?
Personally, I think there should be a tax-deferred long term care savings plan, like IRA's.
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