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Posted by P.Schuman on December 20, 2007, 4:55 pm
as us baby boomers age....
Where do we begin to investigate Long Term Health Care plans
that will come into effect when we may have to migrate into a retirement home ?
I did some browsing, but there doesn't really seem to be a structure
of benefits, timelines, thresholds, waiting periods, coverages, etc....
Not the same like other "insurance" policies.
Just wondering what others have decided,
and where they have looked for information, comparisons, etc
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Posted by Avrum Lapin on December 20, 2007, 7:37 pm
> as us baby boomers age....
>
> Where do we begin to investigate Long Term Health Care plans
> that will come into effect when we may have to migrate into a retirement home
> ?
>
> I did some browsing, but there doesn't really seem to be a structure
> of benefits, timelines, thresholds, waiting periods, coverages, etc....
> Not the same like other "insurance" policies.
>
> Just wondering what others have decided,
> and where they have looked for information, comparisons, etc
I looked when I was in my early 60's (approximately 2000) - my bottom
line was
a) my late wife was uninsurable at the time
b) the articles that I read at the time suggested that it wasn't for me.
At that time nursing homes cost about $100 a day
I summarized my findings and will present them here
Whether to purchase LTC insurance becomes a question of your net
worth, your estimate of your personal probability of entering a nursing
home and whether there is a spouse or other dependent still at home.
The consensus of articles that I have seen in Business Week, WSJ,
Forbes etc is that you should not buy LTC Insurance if your assets are <
$100K or > $1M
The recommended time to buy is about age 60 - you will still have
your health and should have an idea if you will be able to afford the
care
Nothing could be worse than to pay LTC premiums for 15 years and then
have to give up the policy because you can no longer afford the premiums
Spend down rules vary from state to state - especially the amount
that can be set aside for a spouse still at home. Elder Law attorneys
in CA claim that they can usually arrange for a larger amount/portion of
the income to be set aside for the spouse still at home than might be
inferred from the spend down rules.
If you think that you will never return home, I can make a case for
going to the Waldorf Nursing Home during the spend down period and then
going on MedicAid.
Here are some statistics that I have gleaned:
"Taking Care of Tomorrow" by CA Dept of Aging (which would prefer that
you have LTC Insurance and not become dependent on Medi-Cal*) quoting a
study by Kemper and Murtaugh called Lifetime Use of Nursing Home Care
and the 1986 National Mortality Followback Survey:
Age at Death % who used a Nursing Home
65-74 17
74-84 36
85-94 60
Projected lifetime use of Nursing Homes for persons who reached age 65
in 1990
Never 57%
Under 3 mo 11
3-12 Mo 8
1-5 yr 15%
*MediCal is what MedicAid is called in California
"Business Week" 3/29/99 pg 182 > 1 yr in a Nursing Home
Men aged 65 14%
Women aged 65 30% (probably influenced by mortality and survivorship)
Business Week 7/19/99
Average stay is 30 months
76% out within 36 months
86% out within 5 yrs (not a normal distribution)
Wall Street Journal 4/23/90
70% of all couples have at least one partner go into a nursing home
after age 65
Study by Health Insurance Association of America 1992 (I haven't
actually seen this but I think it is the source of most of the
statistics) and the Journal of Taxation of Estates and Trusts - Winter
1992: Nearly half of all persons aged 65....
Quote attributed to the 1991 Annual Report of Long Term Care Facilities
of the CA Health and Welfare Agency (another outfit which would prefer
that you have LTC Insurance and not become dependent on Medi-Cal)
Under 2 weeks 23% 1 yr 7%
2-3 week 20% 2 yr 4%
1-2 mo 21% 3-4 yrs 4%
2-6 mo 12% 5-6 yrs 2%
7-12 mo 8% 7-10 yrs 1%
which is consistent with the previous table
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Posted by Elizabeth Richardson on December 20, 2007, 8:40 pm
>
> Where do we begin to investigate Long Term Health Care plans
> that will come into effect when we may have to migrate into a retirement
home ?
>
>
> Just wondering what others have decided,
> and where they have looked for information, comparisons, etc
If you decide you should be purchasing LTC insurance, the rates are better
the younger you are when you purchase. I believe I will live well into my
90s, and feel confident that I will need some sort of assistance in the end
years.
I googled and found an agent in Washington state who specializes in LTC
insurance and is licensed to sell in all 50 states. He helped me find a
policy that covers either or both my husband and me. It is not a policy with
unlimited benefits - I bought what I could afford, which is approximately 4
years coverage, but does cover for home health care if we need it. This
policy has a clause so that benefits increase with inflation, 5% compounded.
Since I believe health care costs will increase at a greater rate than the
cost of other goods, this was a very attractive clause. I also purchased a
slightly higher monthly benefit amount than is the current cost in Alaska,
about $4500 per person per month where I live, to further help with
inflation.
I recommend you find an agent who specializes in LTC insurance and explore
your various options. My agent was easily able to find a policy that beats
the group rates offered through my husband's pension, and my coverage is
better. But in the end, you will have educated yourself, even if you choose
not to buy.
Elizabeth Richardson
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Posted by Cal on December 21, 2007, 12:10 pm
> as us baby boomers age....
>
> Where do we begin to investigate Long Term Health Care plans
> that will come into effect when we may have to migrate into a retirement
> home ?
>
> I did some browsing, but there doesn't really seem to be a structure
> of benefits, timelines, thresholds, waiting periods, coverages, etc....
> Not the same like other "insurance" policies.
>
> Just wondering what others have decided,
> and where they have looked for information, comparisons, etc
I would suggest that there are a number of items that you would
look for IN the contract.
a) cost of living increase (usually 5% per year, COMPOUNDED)
b) A Bucket of Money Concept ! ! ! !
you purchase what ever benefit that you can afford. It amounts to
a Total DOLLAR amount benefit (say 4K total). That money can be
utilized for what ever NEED you have: drugs, home care, assisted
living,
Home heath care, day care, or one of many other legitimate expenses.
Last of which would be Nursing Home care.
c) guaranteed premium period. Or if that is NOT available, look into the
possibility of a "10 Pay Contract". It will cost a few dollars more,
BUT
you are Guaranteed that NO PREMIUMS WILL BE DUE AFTER 10 Yr..
Kalman J. Lester CLU
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Posted by Don on December 21, 2007, 9:38 pm
On Fri, 21 Dec 2007 16:02:35 -0800, sandybeth wrote
(in article
> LTC policies are great if you end up needing them, but wastefully
> expensive if you don't.
> SandyBeth
I am surprised that, In all this discussion, no one is looking at the
possibility that government health insurance will come about in the not too
distant future. I would not be surprised if something is put in place after
the next presidential election. And from that point , I cannot see anything
but increasingly more government coverage in years to come. We all know that
the USA lags behind other industrialized nations in health care, that the
Canadians are ahead, and that American politicians and people generally are
gradually coming to the conclusion that the situation is bad. So it would
seem to be a sensible prediction that the USA is not going to remain at the
bottom of the heap forever more. Something surely will be done eventually.
I am wondering how people with the better private health plans will fare when
they become eligible along with everyone else for government assistance. And
will private plans survive when public ones are available?
I should imagine that advice from financial planners to pre-retirement
seniors about what coverage to buy would prudently take these matters into
consideration.
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