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Added by Rick Blaine

LTCI, Long Term Care Insurance, is it as expensive as some have lead the masses it is? The media, such as articles in newspapers or tv that do stories of insurance usually gets it all wrong! Yet lets examine this just a tad?

LTCI, can be expensive, yet it isn't that expensive. First you have the "Tax Qualified Plans". The difference is, to collect you'll need a medical doctor to state you'll need 90 days or more in assistance with 2 or more ADLs (activities of daily living): The things we normally do in daily living including any daily activity we perform for self-care (such as feeding ourselves, bathing, dressing, grooming), work, homemaking, and leisure. The ability or inability to perform ADLs can be used as a very practical measure of ability/disability in many disorders.

Now when you first look for plans you'll discover a wide menu of options, any one option can be very intimitating and create a feeling of confusion! I'll go into each seperately but for now lets say it is this simple. You in the end are basically buying into a "pool" of money that you can pull from if the need arises. Bigger the pool, bigger the premium. All the options you'll have to know and pick from will influence directly the pool of money. May it be the elimination period, length of benefits, inflation protector, daily or monthly amount, etc etc.

Now do drive the price down, first understand that you can deduct the a certain amount up to quidelines that the IRS allows. Then you can get a "Good Health" discount, along with Spousal discount (can range from 15% if one spouse is disaprove or 40% if both applies and are excepted), then you have family discounts, where 3 or more people some how related go on the same plan and share the pool of money. You have groups, one that is an option to member of groups such as a small business as long as 2 or more commits and qualifies for a LTC Plan.

So if one gets a 40% savings and then has the tax deduction, the plan could very well be cheap as any insurance you ever paid for! Of course depending on your age, best to buy now when and if you are young then to wait till you are in your 60's, it'll be pricey then but well worth it. Also it does greatly enhances your wealth, most people that file bankruptcy will do so over medical cost. Some States such as NY and others are expected to follow, states if you have LTC, minimul plan at that privately held, once that is ran dried or out of money and you need to go onto the Medicaid Roles you are exempt from Spend Down! That is great, and I do hope more states esp. mine follow suit!

Asset spend-down in nursing homes is the process by which individuals enter nursing homes as private pay clients, deplete their available assets in paying for their care, and then enroll in the Medicaid program once they are impoverished. "Medicaid asset spend-down" is a source of considerable concern to disabled elderly persons who face the prospect of extended nursing home care. It is also a matter of considerable concern to State Medicaid programs, since Medicaid indirectly "became" a safety net for middle and upper class individuals who incur catastrophic nursing home costs.

Became, this isn't the original idea behind Medicaid. Medicaid was at its beginnings a Safety Net for the Poor. This year the congress and with the president's signature have enacted tougher regulations concerning Medicaid and spend down is next to impossible without giving up practically all financial property. This was done nor does anyone believe the actions of the Government is over in the concerns of protecting our budget from an ever increasing cost of Medicaid.

Yet I'm sure the tax qualified LTCI will recieve even a greater tax favorable status and limits.

Long-term care is a range of custodial, social and medical services provided to those who can no longer live independently. They may need the care because of illness, accident, injury or aging.

There are two reasons for which you might require long-term care (LTC)

• You have cognitive impairment (mental impairment with a physical cause, such as Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, stroke or head injury) and need someone to supervise you.
• You need assistance with "Activities of Daily Living" (ADLs). There are six ADLs: Bathing, continence, dressing, eating, toileting, and transferring. Transferring means getting in and out of a bed or chair.

Understanding long term care in a better way

• Long-term care is different from "acute care." Acute care is health care. It is received from a doctor or hospital because of illness, disease or injury. The goal is to cure. Health insurance pays for acute care.
• The objective of LTC is "caring rather than curing." Most people needing long-term care need it for the rest of their lives.
• 95% of LTC is "custodial care." Custodial care includes assistance with Activities of Daily Living and supervision needed by those with cognitive impairment. Not all long-term care is custodial but all custodial care is long-term care.
• Custodial care also includes homemaker services (cooking, cleaning), chores (fixing your house, mowing your lawn), companionship, help with medications and other services.
• Non-custodial care is usually skilled care, provided by nurses and speech, physical and respiratory therapists.
• Long-term care is provided in homes, assisted living facilities, adult day care facilities, hospices and nursing homes.

All the elderly people need LTC.

1. 40% of those receiving long-term care are working-age adults ages 18-64.1
2. One out of every three stroke victims is below the age of 60.2
3. Medicare and private health insurance do not pay for long-term care, although they may pay for some short-term care.

LTC is expensive. In the Knoxville, TN area:

• Good nursing homes cost $60,000 to $100,000 or more per year.
• Good assisted living facilities cost $26,000 to about $60,000 per year.
• Home care costs vary. Nursing assistants, home health aides and companions charge $10 to $20 per hour.3 Geriatric care managers charge $80-100 per hour. A visit by a nurse to change a catheter or dressing costs more.

Forecasting home care costs is difficult. Someone who needs assistance getting out of bed, taking a bath and getting dressed each morning needs a non-skilled person for a relatively short period of time. At $14 per hour, four hours cost $56 per day.

Someone requiring 24 hour supervision might pay $336 a day ($123,000 per year). Additional care by nurses and therapists can drive home care costs as high as $500 per day!

Related Community discussions:

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