Long Term Care
The benefits of buying LTC Insurance now
Why consider Long Term Care Insurance while you are young and healthy?
- Long term care (LTC) insurance is much less expensive to buy when you are young.
- Relatively minor health problems in the future may disqualify you from purchasing LTC insurance.
- The chance you will need some form of LTC is greater than you think. Studies show that 60% of Americans over age 65 will require some form of LTC.
- LTC insurance pays for needs that are only minimally covered by private insurance and Medicare including extended stays in nursing homes, stays in assisted living facilities or unlimited home health care.
- In Massachusetts, median nursing home care costs already run $116,000 per year, and assisted living facility costs run over $59,000 per year.
- Even if you are poor enough to qualify for Medicaid, you may sacrifice choices about the kinds of care you can receive and where you receive the care.
- Tax advantages of LTC insurance over liquidating assets to pay for LTC may be significant.
- In many cases, the financial assets owned by a healthy spouse will be allocated to a spouse whose assets have been depleted by LTC costs. This may place a substantial financial strain on the healthy spouse.
- You will have the coverage you need immediately, in case you need LTC at a younger age due to accidents, strokes, cancer, Altzheimer’s, etc.
Learn more about LTC insurance from the Insurance Information Institute:
www.iii.org/individuals/long-termcareinsurance/
Need help with Elder Care LTC? CareScout provides advice throughout the U.S:
web.carescout.com/carescoutsite/
Review area Nursing Home Ratings by Massachusetts Dept. Of Public Health:
http://webapps.ehs.state.ma.us/nursehome/default.aspx
Learn about residences from the Mass. Assisted Living Facilities Association
http://www.massalfa.org/
Best Home Care-for local home care: www.yourpartnerincare.com
