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Long Term Care Insurance

GetX'd

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This is obviously a car forum but there are many, many members so I want to pose a question for those of us getting up there in age or even younger members that contemplate senior years. What do you guys think of LTC Long Term Care Insurance? I’ve been thinking about it lately and don’t have many places I can go with this many opinions in one place.

Are you guys buyers or not of this product - or generally speaking what are some general plans for the later years? If this is a downer of a subject no need to respond. I’m seriously curious what the general idea you guys have for this type of planning. You’re combined wisdom would be much appreciated.
 
Bought it at 38, said it would never go up. (Premium). Well, it went up about 5x. Went with a lesser plan so as to not lose everything. Should have put the premiums in the Market. Either pay higher premiums or lose everything in. No built value. Calpers. This plan only changes diapers once a week. Overpriced and out of reach at my age.
 
This is obviously a car forum but there are many, many members so I want to pose a question for those of us getting up there in age or even younger members that contemplate senior years. What do you guys think of LTC Long Term Care Insurance? I’ve been thinking about it lately and don’t have many places I can go with this many opinions in one place.

Are you guys buyers or not of this product - or generally speaking what are some general plans for the later years? If this is a downer of a subject no need to respond. I’m seriously curious what the general idea you guys have for this type of planning. You’re combined wisdom would be much appreciated.
In my opinion, LTC insurance is critical unless you're rich, come from a family with no history of chronic, serious illnesses, or from a family with no longevity. My wife and I have had policies for years since Alzheimer's and Parkinson's run in our families. We bought in in our early 50s where the premiums are still reasonably priced. We're with a great company...no strings attached or waiting period to activate when/if the time comes and the coverage growths at 6% annually to stay ahead of inflation. In this day and age, medical costs not covered by Medicare or other skilled nursing or in-home care coverages will wipe you out financially unless you're independently wealthy.

There are two, maybe three, really good companies out there that provide quality LTC insurance. We're with Genworth; in our opinion, the best.

Oh, and my premiums have never gone up.
 
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LTC insurance is critical unless you're rich,

I was told it's critical because it allows families to gut family savings without repurcussions from the state. In Ohio anyway, Metlife told us that the advantage to this type of plan is that you cannot be penalised by a lookback period (normally five years) for a person requireing Medicaid. Reason being, you took steps to have long term care handled by another instutution, meaning an insurance company. The cost at the time was $11,000 per year, that was in 2010. You have to show them (Metlife) how you can manage such an extravagent luxury item as well. You also will need proof you can qualify at present, which includes a thorough physical and a cognitive test. So, if you are considering this type of insurance, it's something probably best done in your 50's, before they really will start to scrutinize you and your spouse as well. We, meaning my mother, did not qualify and do'nt know much further from there, except to say that there are very, very few choices in vendors. Most insurance companies have gotten away from it, unless there's a way to alter the product to make it more favorable to them (less risk). So my mother has paid in the neighborhood of $XXXk (*EDITED* lets just say, a lot) for her care since 2010. So, from that standpoint, 11k per year, even with possible increases is peanuts. I can't remember if they said the premiums were fixed, or not, but I thought they were.

Now for some heresay; some time after we considered this route, and later on as my mothers health failed, I was told by someone in the nursing home industry that the insurance company can also qualify you for Medicaid, at some point, meaning they can walk away from your financial responsibility at that time. It was explained to me by this person that when the 100 days Medicare rule comes into play, meaning after a hospital stay, Medicare kicks in for residency (which is the huge cost we are discussing) for 100 days. This person explained that at that point LTC insurance can also back away and leave you on Medicaid if you qualify. Now if you don't qualify, obviously that would leave the family back on the hook for the resposibility after you've paid all those premiums. I have no experience with that scenario, but it is what I was told.

If I were considering this type of insurance again, I would most certainly run it by a trusted lawyer after you've been accepted before you make a final decision, and maybe that should be a specialised elder care lawyer as well. HTH, Lefty71
 
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No built value.

Right. If you up and die, you threw that money away. Just like all the car and house insurance you've had all these years (assuming you dont wreck cars or burn houses down). LTC is not life insurance by any means.
 
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One thing to think about also is that Medcare will drain any savings you have.
My grandmother, widowed, had a stroke and needed LT care. A few years prior to her stroke she emptied out her savings and split it between my dad and uncle, she wanted to see them enjoy it before she passed. It wasn't much about $150k/2, they were just poor dirt farmers who saved every penny they ever had over 60 yrs of marriage.
Anyway Medicare went back 7 years I believe, and made her responsible for 3 yrs of payments to the LTC. Now this was in rural TX and the nursing homes ran from $4-6k per month. Luckily my dad had invested his portion but my uncle had blown most of his and struggled to pay his share...
They used to make you liquidate all of your assets like your home and car, but I think a law was passed that protected those assets as we did not have to sell those items.
 
I was told it's critical because it allows families to gut family savings without repurcussions from the state. In Ohio anyway, Metlife told us that the advantage to this type of plan is that you cannot be penalised by a lookback period (normally five years) for a person requireing Medicaid. Reason being, you took steps to have long term care handled by another instutution, meaning an insurance company. The cost at the time was $11,000 per year, that was in 2010. You have to show them (Metlife) how you can manage such an extravagent luxury item as well. You also will need proof you can qualify at present, which includes a thorough physical and a cognitive test. So, if you are considering this type of insurance, it's something probably best done in your 50's, before they really will start to scrutinize you and your spouse as well. We, meaning my mother, did not qualify and do'nt know much further from there, except to say that there are very, very few choices in vendors. Most insurance companies have gotten away from it, unless there's a way to alter the product to make it more favorable to them (less risk). So my mother has paid in the neighborhood of $XXXk (*EDITED* lets just say, a lot) for her care since 2010. So, from that standpoint, 11k per year, even with possible increases is peanuts. I can't remember if they said the premiums were fixed, or not, but I thought they were.

Now for some heresay; some time after we considered this route, and later on as my mothers health failed, I was told by someone in the nursing home industry that the insurance company can also qualify you for Medicaid, at some point, meaning they can walk away from your financial responsibility at that time. It was explained to me by this person that when the 100 days Medicare rule comes into play, meaning after a hospital stay, Medicare kicks in for residency (which is the huge cost we are discussing) for 100 days. This person explained that at that point LTC insurance can also back away and leave you on Medicaid if you qualify. Now if you don't qualify, obviously that would leave the family back on the hook for the resposibility after you've paid all those premiums. I have no experience with that scenario, but it is what I was told.

If I were considering this type of insurance again, I would most certainly run it by a trusted lawyer after you've been accepted before you make a final decision, and maybe that should be a specialised elder care lawyer as well. HTH, Lefty71
Each family's situation is different and so are the LTC plans so you have to do a lot of research to see what works best for a given situation. It's more complicated than life insurance...because it's not life insurance. It's living insurance.
 
Call this guy his name is Austin he will hook you up with exactly what you need that fits you 904 516 0946
 
Actually, the phrase "long term" itself sounds really nice to me...
 
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