Long Term Care?

Thanks for all of the responses. I don't think that we will be getting one. Not saying that we won't need it but right now, we can't afford to get it. Living paycheck to paycheck. We shall see. Asking God to keep up safe daily. Mom wanted to use it for Assisted living but she ended up in a memory care facility that is staffed with a nurse 24/7. That was the only requirement of the LTC insurance that she has. For 4 months, she had to pay out of pocket for where she was living. My brother did that for her. Now she is in a better location. From what I can understand, her ltc insurance will be paying for her for 2 years. She is 89. Health is still good. Her mom died at 92. She had a pacemaker.

I think at your ages, it may be too late for LTC. But you never know, you should definitely look in to it. It just seems like you have to pay for the policy for years and years before it is worth anything.

I am concerned that getting the insurance company to pay benefits unless you are in a nursing home will be tough, and then you might as well just private pay while waiting for Medicaid

I am moving $130,000 from my IRA to buy a QLAC, an annuity that will start when I am 85.  If I am good health, I can use it to travel, etc.   If not, my DD can take the money and use it with my SS to put me in AL or pay for an aid.

I got mine years ago. I purchased thru the company that runs the pension program where I work. Expensive but good payouts. I know a number of people who have used it bothe home care and facility stays.

I have a private duty RN who helps me with dialysis. I self pay right now, but my policy will pay if self pay becomes too much.

Start looking right now. We bought ours in our 50s when it still was reasonable. We pay about $3k a year, it goes up a little every few years. But it gets more expensive the longer you wait to enroll. Ours pays $250/day for either home care or facility, and I know we will have to augment that from our savings. I hope you can still find something affordable, if you choose that route.

I know some people have success with LTC policies. For my mother, the one my parents bought was expensive to them, ran out in short order when expensive nursing home care was required, and only delayed the inevitability of Medicaid. It’s generally advised to put in place by around age 60. I’m not advising against buying a policy, just saying to be very thorough and know exactly what you’re getting for your money. There are many policies not worth much

If you are referring to insurance coverage, please check again. Odds are very good that you will not pass their qualification screening even after paying for years.

my parents had a very good policy. They bought the policies when they were in their early 60s. The cost was $300 per month, each. They paid the policy premiums for 25 years.

when my Dad needed the care, he could not qualify. He had to meet the following criteria...cannot walk, cannot feed himself, cannot toilet himself. Then, you still have to pay the full cost of everything yourself for 6 weeks before the policy kicks in. By the time he qualified for the extra money to pay for caregivers...he survived only 6 weeks. My Mom survived for 9 months. But, the policy lifetime limit was $250,000. And the weekly cap was $750. My dad received $4,500 in benefits...my mom $81,000. But they paid in $180,000

do the math. They would have been far better off to save all that money, even invested in just 3% accounts.

so, the only way you come out to the better is to buy the policy and become eligible very soon there after. I don’t think you can buy a policy even that generous any more.

unless you are millionaires, you cannot possibly save enough to cover late life care. But, if you have enough saved to cover a couple years in nursing homes, then you can pick and choose where you end up. This is because the nicer places require self pay for some period of time first before Medicaid eligibility.

one way or another the owners of these corporations (elderly care, insurance, etc) will drain you of all your financial resources.

healthcare for profit is just evil.

You mean a long term care insurance policy? People have pointed out that unfortunately they are not what they used to be, few companies offer them at all and those that do have so many restrictions hidden in the fine print that it can be impossible to ever collect on them. And the best time to start would have been 20 years ago.