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LTC is handled seperatley and depending on your state , age , health , amounts and perks prices will be all over the map.
they are strict as can be as far as who they accept. we got our ny state partnership plan through gensworth last sept. i am 62 and my wife 64 .
they came to our house and did extensive blood work , drug testing , hiv testing , body mass etc and memory tests .
we too 400 a day inflation adjusted for our area. i became slighly diabetic the past year although my numbers through diet and exercise are normal and i was still surcharged.
because we took it so late in life the premiums are 7800 a year for both and nys gives us back 1600 as a tax credit .
most states now sponser plans that are partnerships.
you buy your plam from an approved insurer and the state agrees that in exchange for buying this plan they agree to certain things.
in our case ,ny, they agree:
not to touch assets at all if you buy 6 years of coverage for in home or assisted living and 3 years nursing home care. .
no 5 year look back
no cap on the income the stay at home spouse gets
when the insurance runs out you go on a special version of medicaid and they pick up the bill.
but since they can only control the agreement in state you only get those perks in state.
if you move out of state you will only get the 3 years insurance coverage but no agreement.
as far as why we wanted it ? it wasn't for the 3 years coverage that is for sure.
we wanted it for what happens after the insurance runs out.
with private insurance we get to pick any place we like near family , not a hundred miles away where medicaid has an opening.
once insurance runs out the state pays all the bills forever.
not only that but no assets have to be moved effectively cutting the stay at home spouse off from 1/2 the assets.
even if you move assets the stay at home spouse has restricted income they can have if they have someone on medicaid in a nursing home.
our agreement has none of that required.
that is worth every penny of premium since just a tiny part of the gains on those assets cover the premium and protect all those assets.
trying to self insure can be an awful idea for many reasons .
the base of every investment pyramid should be the various types of insurance that apply to your situation and asset level that protect those asset from devastation by mitigating damages that stand a pretty good chance of happening.
having our house burn down from fire is less than a 1% chance and yet most have fire insurance.
needing long term care ,either in home ,assisted living or nursing home runs 77% . . yet many with assets worth protecting wing it or claim they are self insuring which can be a big blunder in the end for so many reasons.
it wasn't until money magazine did a feature story on us years ago that their team of pro's and i disagreed on the self insuring aspect.
i saw no reason to not do it.
but they were right and i was wrong and there were so many reasons i didn't evn realize why that would have been a poor idea.
I agree LTC insurance is something everyone should have but both my wife and I have health situations that make finding one that will issue a policy very tough. Fact is to date we've only found one that would provide coverage for both of us and we're going to get it.
To be sure there are plans out there that have better benefits, a lot better benefits, but sometimes life throws a curve ball and you take what you can get. Before you criticize to much this is all we can get for any price.
Maximum benefit length is one year with maximum daily benefit of $150 so the maximum exposure Kemper has is $54,750 and they are done.
Good part is the premiums are only $28.25/month which is definitely affordable to nearly everyone.
Mathjack, I know there are better plans but this is the only one I have found to date that would take us and as inexpensive as it is I think something is better than nothing.
Assisted living
Every year I visit at least a dozen assisted living facilities as part of my job. I have learned there are good ones and bad ones. There are places that, if you need the assistance, are very nice, well kept, clean with a fantastic and caring staff.
One of the best ones I've seen is Langdale Place in Valdosta, Georgia. I've been all through this place and if I had to I wouldn't mind staying there.
Cost for non-Alzheimer's care is right at $4,000/month which probably sounds really cheap if you are from New York or Massachusetts where something comparable would easily run twice that. Meals served in the dining room are included and I've had one... very good.
The best thing is couples stay together.
Next tier down runs about $2,800/month and it is nice. Again it is in South Georgia which means if it were in New York it would run $6,000/month.
And then there is the hell hole. Been in one, the thought of a loved one having to stay there brings tears to my eyes... filth beyond imagination it's more of a storehouse for the near dead.
Nursing home? I have no idea what they run... haven't looked into that because we couldn't buy insurance anyway so we'll bury our heads in the sand.
where you live will be the big factor as far as all these other products like the one above or linked benefit policies .
we need 400 to 500 a day here in ny inflation adjusted to really be fully covered so that would not serve much good if real care was needed outside the home . my dad spent 5 years in a home after a stroke.
it also does not help protect assets and income for the stay at home spouse if nursing care is required and medicaid is needed.
it helps but falls way short the way costs escalate.
even home health care runs way more than 150 here in the tristate area.
while it may ease the bills a bit it falls way short of protecting assets which after all is the name of the game.
paying for insurance of any type that still fails to meet the mark and burns up assets or you lose them is the same as having no protection.
it is like trying to be a little bit pregnant.
personally i would rather see a linked benefit plan used than the one above . far more benefits and coverage .
if you want to know more i can give you a little explanation as to the one i am familiar with .
this was a product first invented by Gene Pastula, President of Westland Financial Services and Colonial Life which i have a basic understanding of.
Last edited by mathjak107; 04-05-2015 at 08:37 AM..
where you live will be the big factor as far as all these other products like the one above or linked benefit policies .
we need 400 to 500 a day here in ny inflation adjusted so that would not serve much good if real care was neededoutside the home .
it also does not help protect assets and income for the stay at home spouse if nursing care is required and medicaid is needed.
it helps but falls way short the way costs escalate.
even home health care runs way more than 150 here in the tristate area.
personally i would rather see a linked benefit plan used than the one above . far more benefits and coverage .
if you want to know more i can give you a little explanation as to the one i am familiar with .
I fully agree.
But it is all we can get, the only policy we found that would accept both of us and something is better than nothing.
The chances of me needing it are slim. I have Type 2 diabetes that I work awfully hard to keep in check and so far I've been able to do it with diet, exercise and oral medication... so far no insulin taken and I want to keep it that way.
Nobody in my family has ever had diabetes and we can trace as far back to 1750 on my mothers side and 1840 on my fathers. No member has ever had it but I do.
In Vietnam I was in Dong Nai and Binh Duong provinces that received 65% of all the agent orange sprayed in the country.
Dozens of hectares, including five to seven hectares of ponds and lakes, at the airport have been found with dangerously high concentrations of dioxin, a pollutant that inflicts great damage on human health, causing cancer together with reproductive and developmental problems, and increasing the risk of heart disease, diabetes, and immune malfunction.
It wasn't a tropical jungle where I was at, everything was dead.
Of the guys I kept in touch with every last one has Type 2 diabetes. I am participating in the VA's Agent Orange registry and blood tests confirm I have dioxin in my system from over 45 years ago. Now you know why it's tough for me to find LTC and home care insurance.
So the VA classified me as 50% disabled for which I receive a tax free check in the amount of $917.13 every month. If my diabetes, or anything else linked to agent orange, acts up I could get payments as high as $3,068.80 every month plus any nursing home or extended care I need would be covered by the VA. I will receive these payments for the rest of my life.
So chances are I won't need it.
Note to any Vietnam veteran: If you have Type 2 diabetes, or any of the other dozen or so illnesses linked to agent orange, go get your check because Lyndon Johnson owes it to you! The process is easy and fast. I applied for disability on September 24, 2012 and received my first check on January 2, 2013. All you got to do is prove you got on of the afflictions and that you were there and it's automatically handed to you.
I wish I didn't get the check, I wish I didn't have any health issues.
Yep, we're still paying for Vietnam.
My wife has medical issues as well so we will get what we can get.
i too am type 2 with no meds , just intense cardio and strict diet but i know my days of dodging the bullet are likely numbered.
i already had damage done in my toes and finger tips while going un treated. it has been a year and the damage is still the same.
having dealt with my dad in the home and the financial strain and fighting it caused in the famly having the proper plan in place for us while we could still get it was a priority.
that was one hurdle i am glad to have beghind us and i am sorry i didn't do it earlier it would have been a whole lot cheaper today. as well as they saw my last a1c's were high normal and surcharged me now.
but polocies of old were poorly written , offered no real asset protection and loop holes everywhere. today the polocies are clear and concise and the state partnership plans do a whole lot of asset and income protecting long after the insurance ends. so in that respct i am glad we waited.
in fact we only need 3 years insurance as there is no 5 year look back with our agreement with the state.
we are really paying for the perks after the insurance as the 3 years insurance is small potato's in the big picture.
So far I haven't had any real problems just neuropathy in my feet and I think I am getting a little on my fingers.
So far not bad, I don't have pain just not the tingling in my feet.
My A1c I keep between 6.0 and 6.2 and I have it checked every three months. I go to the gym at least three times a week and I should go every day. Maybe after I retire I will go more often.
As far as the home health policy the health questions are very limited so many that might not get other plans, or maybe the budget is just to tight, might find this useful.
I just signed up for the Kemper policy and I know it has low limits, the coverage isn't great and blah blah but I can't help but think some of here that are unable to find standard LTC policies due to existing health or even budgets might be interested given the extremely low cost.
Low cost if you spend money on drugs which a lot of us do or will do.
The policy will cost me $28.25/month for a total of $339.00.
Kemper has a drug benefit where they will pay 80% of what you pay for drugs after reaching a $50 deductible up to a maximum of $250 per year. Even with my Cigna Part D insurance I spend about $900.00/year out of my pocket (Jentadueto is on an expensive tier) so in my case, and maybe yours as well, I will get $250.00 back in my drug benefit.
My out of pocket, after the drug reimbursement, will be $89.00 per year or $7.42/month. For that low of an out of pocket cost for me this is a no brainer.
Something to think about anyway.
If you are interested pm me and I will give you the contact information for my agent.
My problem with LTC policies is that there appears to be no protection to the consumer if the company that contracts the policy goes belly up. Also, I am hoping that alternative care systems will be developed as more of us need them. What are your thoughts on this?
Not true at all. Most states back them. each state has different limits but they are pretty high in most.
besides the state funds ,most states require insurers to take over the customer base of other insurers if asked by the state insurance board in order to be approved to even sell insurance in that state.
per the OP's original question, no there is no one policy that will cover everything you are looking for. You will need Medicare A&B (both are separate), a supplemental policy (Medigap or advantage plan), separate drug plan with medigap plan, separate dental and vision plans if you go with medigap plan, long term care plan, separate arrangements with a mortuary, etc. Also, Medicare is now paying for less and less (for example, for certain lab tests) and I'm sure this will continue in the future.
I prepaid for my wife..........pick up body, cremation,...........paid a flat fee and got an insurance policy stating exactly what was covered.
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