What Everyone Should Know About Long-Term Care Insurance Part 1

December 10th, 2024 by admin

All lawyers who assist clients with long-term physical care planning and the expense of it, often called Elder Law, will tell you the same thing: You should consider purchasing long-term care insurance (LTC) while you still have your health. A lot of elder law planning expenses and fees, which can get costly, can be avoided or reduced significantly if you have a solid policy with good options. Because the odds are a good percentage of those who reach their seventies are going to need long-term care, which is expensive and an expense which is not in the planning budget of most citizens.

The next two columns will address some of the assumptions people often make about long-term care issues which are generally not so. Following this is a discussion of the most important questions about the process: 1. Who should purchase a long-term care policy; 2. What provisions should be included in the policy; 3. When should you purchase a long-term care policy; 4. Where should one find solid companies which sell good policies; and 5. Why you and your family will be glad that you purchased a good policy.

ASSUMPTIONS YOU MAY MAKE WHICH ARE NOT SO:

Do not assume:

1. Medicare will cover your long-term care costs. Fact: Medicare does not typically cover custodial care. (But skilled nursing care is different.)
2. You will never need long-term care insurance. Fact: If you are sixty-five or older seventy percent of us (or more) will likely need long-term care.
3. You will be able to take care of yourself or your loved one if you become chronically ill and may need long-term care. Fact: Unless another family member who lives in the household can bath you, deal with any incontinence issues, dress you regularly, prepare your meals and get you to eat them, assist you with toileting, and is physically able to transfer you from your bed, to the bathroom, and to get you in and out of a motor vehicle, this is not so.
4. There is only one type of policy to help you with long-term care. Fact: This is not so. Talk with a professional insurance representative to learn about your options.
5. You cannot qualify for long-term care. Fact: This is not likely. Seek a trusted professional to advise you regarding your options. But the sooner you purchase a policy—while you are in your fifties/early sixties and in reasonably good health—the better.
6. Friends who are well-intentioned but with no specialized knowledge will know enough to provide you with your best options. Fact: this is not so. Like a smart person you know who googles something on the Web which sounds good.
7. You must cover all your long-term care costs with a policy. Fact: This is not so. These costs are more than you have any reason to know. Any policy income stream can help you pay the sizable costs of long-term care between what the policy pays and your other assets.

The main questions one should have when considering long-term care insurance policies will be addressed in the next column. But one issue which experience shows is the most important one to face is this: the cost of a long-term care insurance policy is not cheap. The cost of long-term care is expensive, and as a result, any insurance policy which is going to cover some of these expenses is going to be expensive, too, relative to your other recurring expenses in your budget. But is it going to save you from the necessity of liquidating all your assets to pay for the nursing home or other long-term care options out of your own pocket? Almost certainly less. It is clearly the lesser cost.

Remember: An informed choice is a smart choice.
Mike Wells is a partner with Wells Law, PLLC in Winston-Salem. His email address is mike@wellslaw.us and his telephone number is 336.283.8700.

Tags: long-term care

Posted in: WS Journal Articles