Homework-Getting Started
With a slight planning, you can buy long-term care insurance -- whether for yourself, or as an each year gift for your now-healthy parents. And you can encourage your company to provide this coverage as an employee benefit. Otherwise you may become one of the 7 million Americans who, according to the National Council on the Aging, now provide or conduct care for a friend or relative aged 55 or older and not living with them. Start investing with 0.
Medicare Part D Cost
The costs of long-term care are thinkable, today and should soar higher in the arrival years when baby boomers retire. Even the GenXers wont fly the impact. Your parents will whether spend your patrimony on nursing home care, or you may find yourself taking care of your elderly parents out of your own relinquishment funds.
no Medicare supplement course covers custodial nursing care. Yes, state Medicaid programs cover nursing care for the indigent -- but that means approximately all assets and income must be spent down before the state will pick up the tab.
Medicaid spend-down planning has received concentration as a way to deal with the nursing-care costs. Financial advisers counsel seniors to exchange assets to younger house members -- a process that must be completed at least three years before asking Medicaid to pay nursing home costs. But these state nursing home programs for the impoverished do not cover home-health-care costs. And aside from the moral implications of such a strategy, do you in effect want you or your parents to depend on a government-funded nursing facility?
Long-term care insurance can solve the qoute in most cases. The most recent generation of policies pays for "home care" at a senior daycare facility, as well as care in a skilled or custodial nursing facility. A quantum of premiums may be tax-deductible, depending on your age and income. But not all policies are alike, the company is growing (There were just 4.1 million course holders in 1998.) and coverage are enduringly evolving, so study both the product and the pricing.
Good health now pays off later. Once you've locked in an each year premium, it cant be raised if your health changes. But insurance companies can ask state regulators to raise premiums for an entire age group, depending on claims experience. Unfortunately, many companies have raised premiums in recent years, once they realized they'd under priced their policies. (See below, on selecting a reputable insurer.)
While some insurers require a medical examination, most just ask for a medical reference. However, any false claims could supervene in future denial of coverage.
Where you live affects costs. That's because nursing costs typically are higher in major metropolitan areas than in smaller communities.
Length of coverage: The mean stay in a nursing facility is 2.5 years, so some habitancy opt to limit coverage distance to cut costs. But if you're purchasing a course in your mid-50s, you'll find that lifetime coverage is not much more expensive.
Elimination period: This is like a deductible and works like one. You agree to pay for the first 60 days or 90 days of needed care; then the course kicks in. Having a 90-day deductible can cut premium costs substantially.
Inflation rider: Even a 3% inflation rate can cut the value of your dollar in half in 25 years. Plus, assume health-care costs will rise more than the general inflation rate as boomers age. So it may pay to buy an inflation rider. All tax-qualified policies today (see below) must offer this coverage as an option.
Other issues
Benefit payments and triggers: A mighty doctor must guarantee to the insurance company that you need the benefits -- and those benefits will be paid only to mighty caregivers. A daughter who naturally does your shopping and prepares meals wouldn't qualify as a caregiver, but she might if she's a trained professional.
Most policies require the inability to accomplish at least two activities of daily living to trigger the benefits. The activities consist of being able to dress yourself, bathe yourself, move from a bed to a chair, use toilet facilities or eat unassisted. Policies will also pay out if you cant pass safe bet thinking function tests. (Look for a course that specifically includes coverage for thinking or cognitive impairment.) Most policies no longer require a hospitalization before benefits start, but check the wording anyway.
Insurance companies may pay benefits using one of two methods:
Expense-incurred benefits: These are paid whether to you or to your provider up to the limits in your policy.
A daily advantage or indemnity: This will be paid directly to you. But be sure your course offers a pool of benefits on a daily or weekly basis allowing you to pay for covered services as needed, as well as nursing home care.
Tax-deductibility: You may be able to deduct part of your each year premium as part of a medical deduction. But remember, you can only deduct medical expenses that exceed 7.5% of adjusted gross income. The size of a deduction depends on age. habitancy over age 61 can deduct ,510 (assuming they meet the 7.5% threshold). approximately all policies sold before Jan. 1, 1997 were grandfathered and are thought about qualified. Benefits paid by a mighty course aren't ordinarily thought about dutible income -- even if your manager paid the premiums.
Options
Waiver of Premium: This provision lets you stop paying the each year premiums once youve moved into a nursing home and the insurance company has started to pay benefits. It may not apply if you are receiving home health care.
Premium Refund: Some policies will repay your estate any premiums you paid, minus benefits used. Usually, there's an age limit, typically 65 or 70.
Non-forfeiture benefits: If you drop your coverage, possibly because you cant afford the premiums, you can receive some benefits for the money you've already paid in. But this feature can boost the course cost substantially.
Find a strong company:
Make sure you've purchased from a company with a strong financial base, and a 10-year history with this insurance, so it will price policies properly and be there when you need it. A amount of companies jumped into long-term care insurance without sufficient data on which to base prices.
over here To Ltc Or To Not Ltc - That Is The interrogate
No comments:
Post a Comment