As noted by the American Association for Long Term Care Insurance, November is officially Long Term Care Awareness Month.
The awareness campaign which we commenced in 2001 continues to grow and involve more leading national organizations and governmental agencies,” explains Jesse Slome, the Association’s executive director. “Last year, the U.S. Congress issued a Resolution (H.R. 133) in support of Long-Term Care Awareness Week, and several Governors declared the week in their states.
Creating awareness and educating the public about insurance for long term care is an important step that will assist those who need long term care now, or in the future, with the tools to make educated decisions about their health.
To learn more about long term care, read our short guide, “Dignity For Life: 5 Things You Should Know Before Considering Long Term Care Insurance“.
The IRS allows qualified Long Term Care Insurance premiums to be deducted with some limits. Those limits for 2009 have been established and this article from the Davidow Newsletter has a good explanation of what those limitations are as well as what qualifies as a tax deductible policy.
A qualified Long Term Care Insurance specialist can help you determine the best policy for you.
LTC Connects is pleased to provide you with QuickFACTS® newsletters in partnership with MetLife’s Mature Market Institute, a well-established and pioneering think tank on issues surrounding aging and retirement.
QuickFACTS® is a monthly newsletter providing stats, trends and information on issues related to aging, including retirement planning and financing, workforce demographics, international aging, caregiving, long term health care, health and retiree benefits from a variety of sources. We have newsletters from January 2007 to present and will continue to update as issues are released.
We hope you will find the information helpful.
We live in a transient society these days which means families are often spread apart in different towns and often different states. This distance raises concerns and challenges for the 34 million Americans that currently provide care to older loved ones (15% of those live a minimum of 1 hour away from that loved one). Setting up and managing care for a loved one from a distance can be tricky and if you are facing this situation, please take a look at the Long Distance Caregiving guide we have available for download in our Resource Center.
The guide details the specifics of setting up and managing care from a distance including
- Assessing the situation
With what does the loved one need assistance? Do they need help with Activities of Daily Living (also known as “ADLs” and include bathing, transporting, feeding) or “supportive care” (laundry, housekeeping grocery shopping etc).
- Locating and implementing community resources
Depending on the needs determined in the assessment you will need to locate resources locally to support those needs. If they have a long term care insurance policy and qualify for receiving care, contact their insurance agent for guidance. If they do not have a policy or only need supportive care, some resources include local hospitals, social workers, senior centers. A federally funded program to assist in locating help for elders is Eldercare Locator.
- Organizing and tracking important documents
Keep track of copies of important docuements and information such as Social Security and Medicare cards, birth certificates, physician names and numbers.
- Ongoing Care Monitoring
When you have care in place you will need to routinely and randomly monitor the quality by visiting (both announced and unannounced) and through phone calls and email.
- Maintaining control of your own life while caring for an older loved one
Often personal lives are put on the backburner when caring for a loved one. The guide provides tips on how to avoid neglecting those areas.
The task of caring for a loved one can have a huge emotional and financial impact. But preparation and ongoing management of the situation can lessen these impacts.
It seems that every week I hear about another friend or collegue that has had (at best) to adjust their life, or (at worst) completely alter their life because of an aging parent’s need for care.
My own family is involved in a situation currently that has caused me to reflect on the question of how things might be different if a parent were to have long term care coverage. One of my parents is currently recovering from a life threatening condition, and while his recovery would not fall under long term care, it has made me realize the effects of children caring for their parents.
As is often the case, either due to family dynamics or, as in our case geography, one child is left to shoulder most of the burden of care. I just returned from a week at my brothers’ family’s home across the county, where my father is recuperating, and saw first hand the level of stress, potential loss of income due to less time to work, as well as the emotional toll that is caused when a child is responsible for the care of a parent.
I watched as my brother and his wife (who have three small children of their own) tried to juggle the constant care of my father with their own lives (work, caring for their kids, keeping a house running). The potential loss of income from losing time at work, the stress it places on a family and the emotional drain is all too real. Often I hear from others about the difficulties their own parents have accepting care from their children, in particular the physical needs tend to be the most difficult to accept (feeding, bathing, transporting etc.). There is a loss of dignity that comes with a child providing these things to a parent. So much of this could have been avoided if the parent had a long term care policy that allowed them to remain at home, receive care from paid professionals, and allowed the children to simply care about the parent as opposed to caring for them.
While we cannot turn back the hands of time and purchase policies for all of our aging parents, we can learn from the mistake by exploring the option of obtaining long term care insurance coverage when we are still young enough and healthy enough. If you are a caregiver please visit our Caregivers Resource Center for further information.
There was an interesting Q&A in the New York Times yesterday. Readers’ questions about Long Term Care Insurance (LTCI) were submitted and answered by Vincent J. Russo, an attorney specializing in financial issues and the elderly, including Medicare and Medicaid reimbursement. A follow up Q&A will be published next week.
Mr. Russo covers issues ranging from whether high net-worth individuals should purchase LTCI, maximum benefits to purchase, and supplementing federal government plans.
While the information is interesting, and education on the subject will help you make an informed decision, the bottom line is if at the end of the day, with a good understanding of the risks and benefits, you decide that owning an LTCI policy gives you peace of mind it is probably a good idea that you should have it. For more resources please visit the Consumer Library in our Resource Center.
I ran across an interesting website, Tender Tidings Seniors, that offers a way of integrating technology with the difficulties so many baby boomers face as their parents age, the feelings of concern when leaving their elderly parents alone in the home.
Tender Tidings Seniors is a service that offers the ability to check in on elderly family members via streaming video. As described on the site, the service provides peace of mind since “no matter where you are, at the click of a mouse you can check on your mother, father, grandmother, grandfather, or elderly friend. If need be, you can take action. Otherwise, you can get back to work knowing your loved ones are safe and secure. Now, seniors can live alone without actually having to be alone.”
The toll of aging loved ones is an emotional one and this service could offer some level of comfort when you cannot be there physically for that loved one. For additional caregiver resources please visit LTC Connects’ Resource Center to learn more about long term care
I have compiled a list of what I think are the 5 top long term care insurance sites. These sites offer unbiased information and insights into the issues surrounding long term health care and long term care insurance. They are worth taking time to read and bookmark as references as you explore your long term care planning options
The Top Five Websites Dedicated to Long Term Care Insurance
- Long Term Care Resources - A website created by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to help families understand, plan and pay for long term care. Resources include a glossary and definitions of long term care terms, costs of long term care and much more
- Federal Long Term Care Insurance Program - This website is dedicated to the Federal Long Term Care Insurance Program, designed to assist federal employees with receiving long term care insurance.
- http://www.aarp.org/money/financial_planning/sessionfive/longterm_care_insurance.html - Information and resources provided by aarp.org, including when the right time to buy LTCI is or whether long term care insurance is even for you
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long_term_care_insurance - definition of long term care insurance, including links to additional resources
- Do You Need Long Term Care Insurance? - Consumer Reports article asking whether everyone needs long term care insurance or not. Also includes a link to what Medicare & Medicaid cover
For additional quick facts regarding long term care and long term health care insurance take a look at our What You Need to Know section as well as our Resource Center.
On Wednesday June 4 and June 5 there were articles in the Seattle Times worth reading. The first article covers the unfortunate story of a 99 year old woman facing eviction from an assisted living facility. She has spent over $300,000 (out of her own savings) to pay for her care and room at this facility over the past decade. Because she has exhausted her assets and qualifies for Medicaid the facility is evicting her. It is a sad but instructive story on what can happen when there is a lack of planning for long term care.
The second article is a follow up in the form of a Q&A to Louise Ryan, the Washington State Long-term Care Ombudsman.
Both are worth taking a few minutes to read and then ask yourself “what is my current strategy regarding long term care planning?”
