This is our 3rd discussion about a series of long-term care videos provided by Kiplinger’s. If you missed the first two, they are HERE and HERE. Today’s topic receives a lot of attention, especially given the rising costs of health care and long-term care costs in particular.
So, how do you pay for long-term care? Does everyone need long-term care insurance? The video breaks it down into a couple segments, which we generally agree with:
- There are those who will simply pay for any long term care costs out-of-pocket themselves because they have the money
- Another group of folks will depend on Medicaid. Remember, Medicaid is basically a program for the poor. Your total assets need to be below $2000 in order to qualify for Medicaid services.
- Some will depend on using their current assets to pay for long term care, such as their home. It’s becoming more and more common for home-owners to take out a reverse mortgage
- There will always be those who simply take the chance that long term care will not be necessary
Who is going to buy long term care insurance? That too can vary widely but everyone needs to be able to pay the monthly premiums. If you’re unsure about what the average monthly premiums will be, you can get a free estimate of long term care insurance rates on our site. Monthly premiums will almost always be lower the younger you apply, while you are still healthy.
Another group will purchase insurance for long term care because they want to be able to pass along their nest egg to their kids.
For our next post, we’ll take a closer look at how long term care insurance policies work (and what you should be aware of), but here are some points to keep in mind:
- What is the policies waiting period, or elimination period? This is typically 30- 90 days and is basically the number of days you will need to wait once care is required.
- Daily Benefit – this is the amount of care you’ll receive per day, although, as the video points out, “daily” is a bit untrue. If you don’t use your maximum daily amount, this money goes into a pool that can be used at a later time. LTCI policies are not a use-it-or-lose-it deal
- What do LTCI policies pay for? nursing homes, at-home care, assisted-living facility
Get a An Estimate of Long Term Care Insurance Costs By Clicking Above
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