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Posts Tagged ‘Long term Care’

What Does Long-Term Care Cost And Who Pays?

August 10th, 2011 Terry Stanfield No comments

In the many different discussions about the importance of long-term care insurance costs, there is often very little discussion about how much it will cost an individual. For many, the long-term care insurance cost is immaterial when compared to the benefits it can bring to an individual who is in need of long-term care.

For typical long-term care, that which does not come from an insurance plan, the cost is taken on by the family or friends of the individual. This is too often the case and for some families, the cost of paying hundreds or even a thousand or more a month for nursing home costs, is simply too much to handle.

However, what can one expect to pay in long-term care insurance plans? Well, generally for a lifetime payment of premiums that gives $500 a week benefits for 250 weeks, a male aged 40 would pay $38 a month, while a female aged 35 would pay $39. At age 55, a female would pay $75, while at age 60 a male would pay $140.

Once they reach the age, or situation, where they will need the long-term care, they can expect to pay as little as $800 per month to have a room in a nursing home, or as much as $5,000. If an individual needs a homemaker or personal care provider in their home, it will be $15 to $25 per hour, while nursing home care can be between $25 and $65 per hour.

This is why it is incredibly important to make sure you get the insurance plan that will allow you to handle long-term care costs like those. At $500 per week, you will bring in $2,000 per month that will give you the ability to stay in a mid-range nursing home, which is better than having nothing at all because you did not have a long-term care insurance plan.

Medical insurance does not pay for these expenses, and unless you have very deep pockets you are not going to be able to last on your savings for long when you are paying those kind of rates. As a result, long-term care insurance is one of the most important forms of insurance you can ever get. Conclusion Long-term care is a reality of our existence. At some point, if we live long enough, we are most likely going to need someone to help us with day-to-day activities. It is unfortunate, but it is life. The costs of this are often taken on by family, and they can run into the thousands of dollars per month in some cases. This is a horrible situation for many families to be in because they want to provide the care for loved ones, but simply cannot do so.

As a result, long-term care insurance alleviates that pain and helps make the experience bearable, financially speaking. It can help you get the care you need, while keeping your family from having to pawn their items to pay for it. It is the best solution for everyone and if you start early, it can cost you less than cable television per month.

You should just ask for help from an insurance representative who specializes in long term care insurance to answer any questions.

Before you go out and buy a policy go to Long Term Care Insurance, ask questions and request a long term care insurance quote. We represent 20 of the top LTCi providers. This gives you tremendous options.

Long Term Care Insurance: Understanding The Value

August 8th, 2011 Terry Stanfield No comments

Long term care is a reality of growing old. As we get older, the possibility of needing someone to help us take care of ourselves is going to increase. Things could turn out for the best and you may not need long-term care, or they could turn out for the worst and you could need ongoing, long-term care. There is no way to predict what will happen in the future, but there is a way to plan for it.

Long term care insurance is the best option anyone has to make sure their future remains bright and financially secure, and it all comes at the cost of a small monthly payment. No different than car or home insurance, which you use in case you are involved in a car accident, or your home burns down, long-term care insurance protects you in the event you need long term care.

This comes at the price of a small payment, but the rewards it can give you go far beyond that. As a result of the monthly payment you make, your family will not be burdened with the costs of your long-term care, and you will not have to worry about your bank account draining to fund the long-term care, because Medicare does not cover the expenses related to long term care.

That small payment translates into peace of mind as you go into your old age. You will know that in the event of an unfortunate accident or situation, your family will not be struggling to, not only pay their own bills, but yours as well. Of course, that long-term insurance payment also helps you in the event you are injured or need surgery while you are still middle-aged. Long term care can pay your expenses while you recover from an accident, surgery or illness, since it is unlikely your job, or Medicare, will.

The value in long-term care insurance is huge, and the price is small. Like any other insurance, you buy it not to protect you in the case of a tragedy or accident, but to give you the peace of mind that if an accident or tragedy happens, someone has your back. That is an excellent situation to be in and it makes everything much easier for everyone.

Conclusion Long-term care insurance is the safety net that comes at a great value for you. With only monthly payments to your long-term care insurance company, you are securing your financial future and giving your family the ability to provide care for you in the event you need long-term care, without the problems of trying to pay for it.

Medicare does not pay expenses for long-term care patients, but your long-term care insurance does, and is that not worth the price of a monthly payment? It may not happen, but if something bad does and you need long-term care, don’t you want to know someone has your back, ensuring you and your family are not strapped for cash simply because you grew old and needed care, or because you were in an accident?

That kind of security and peace of mind is worth its weight in gold, and you can have it for much less.

Before you go out and buy a policy go to Long Term Care Insurance, ask questions and request a long term care insurance quote. We represent 20 of the top LTCi providers. This gives you tremendous options.

Who Can Afford Long Term Care Insurance?

August 8th, 2011 Terry Stanfield No comments

Insurance is a wonderful thing. It gives us the peace of mind knowing that someone has our back, and it provides us with the security we need in the event of an accident that can alter the course of our lives. Long-term care insurance is no different, but many feel they cannot get it because they do not know how they will afford long-term care insurance. The question then comes up about who can afford long-term care insurance.

Many will wait for their near retirement to get long-term care insurance, because at that point the prospect of needing help with activities that we take for granted are only a decade or more away. As a result, many of those who get long-term care insurance are past the age of retirement and they are the ones who pay into it.

However, it is important for the young to understand that long-term care insurance is incredibly important for them as well. Anything can happen in the future and nothing is certain. Nearly half of the people who collect on long-term care insurance are individuals who are below the age of 65. This is because accidents or illnesses that require an individual to seek help with day-to-day activities, even for only a few months, are needed at any age.

So, who can afford long-term care insurance? Well, the short answer is that everyone can. When you are young, you will be able to get long-term care insurance at reduced premiums because there is a much smaller chance you will need it before you are 70. However, if you wait until you are 65, you will pay more. You should look at paying for long-term care insurance the minute you can comfortably do so, and when you have enough finances and assets that you want to protect from a possible life-altering disability. You do not want to be in a situation where you cannot afford to pay your premiums, so you need to wait until you can afford to do so, without setting yourself back. Generally, at that point in your life, you will also have enough finances and assets that you will want to protect them in the event that you need long-term care.

Summary Long-term care is an important part of any future planning for an individual and their family. It will ensure that in the event you need long-term care, you will be covered by the long-term care insurance. However, not being able to afford long-term care insurance can be a problem, but there are so many options to go through with long-term care insurance, you should be able to find at least something that will assist you in the event you need it.

Try and get the insurance when you are younger because it will cost much less, but if you can’t, try and get it, even the lowest plan, at some point. Remember, even a little bit of long-term care insurance is better than none, so look into getting the long-term care insurance that will give you the peace of mind you need.

You should just ask for help from an insurance representative who specializes in long term care insurance to answer any questions.

Before you go out and buy a policy go to Long Term Care Insurance, ask questions and request a long term care insurance quote. We represent 20 of the top LTCi providers. This gives you tremendous options.

Is Long Term Care Insurance For You?

August 8th, 2011 Terry Stanfield No comments

Who knows what the future will hold for us. A simple drive through the city can turn into a serious car accident that leaves you in need of long-term care for the rest of your life, depending on how circumstances fall into place. Many people understand that the worst can happen in life, but few actually prepare for it. If you do want to prepare for the possibility, there is nothing better you can do than purchase long-term care insurance.

Long-term care is something various people, at different ages, will need in their lives. It could be as a result of old age reducing an individual’s ability to care for themselves or it may be as a result of an accident that left an individual paralyzed or with a severe brain injury. When long-term care is needed, Medicare will not cover the expenses of the individual who is in need of long-term care, and that financial burden will often fall onto family. However, with long-term care insurance, that burden is removed and the individual can benefit from living the type of lifestyle, financially-speaking, that they did before they needed long-term care.

Long-term care insurance is no different than any other insurance you pay for. You pay for house insurance and car insurance on the off-chance your house will burn down or your car will be involved in an accident. The chances are low, but you make monthly payments to ensure you have bases covered. The same is true with long-term care insurance. There is a small chance you will be paralyzed, suffer a brain injury or need long-term care in your old age, but you pay into the insurance plan in case it does happen.

The foolish state that it will never happen, and if people can learn anything from life it is that anything can, and will, happen. You should never leave everything to chance and you need to prepare yourself for the possibility of you, or a family member, needing long-term care by purchasing long-term care insurance.

Purchasing long-term care insurance is not an admission that something bad will happen, but simply preparing for the possibility that long-term care may be needed in the future, and you are not going to leave the burden of that on your family or friends. Conclusion Long-term care can happen to anyone. It can be as a result of old age or an unfortunate accident, but the point is that it is not an impossibility. As a result, preparing for long-term care by purchasing long-term care insurance is incredibly important. With long-term care insurance, you will remove a financial burden from your family while you are in need of long-term care. Your long-term care situation may stretch a decade, a year, or only a few months, but no matter how long you need long-term care, long-term care insurance will be there to make things easier on everyone.

Do not leave anything to chance and prepare yourself for the possibility of long-term care with long-term care insurance.

Before you go out and buy a policy go to Long Term Care Insurance, ask questions and request a long term care insurance quote. We represent 20 of the top LTCi providers. This gives you tremendous options.

How Does Age Affect The Price Of A Long-Term Care Policy?

August 8th, 2011 Terry Stanfield No comments

As you grow old, some things like dinners out and movies become cheaper due to senior discounts. However, conversely other things become more expensive, and usually those things are insurance. As a result, when you are getting a long-term care policy, your age is going to have a big effect on the price of a long-term care policy.

Look at it from the insurance company’s perspective. They have a 30-year-old computer programmer who works from home and rarely travels. As a result, he is considered low-risk and his insurance premium costs are going to be as low as $20 per month. However, for an individual who is 67 and has a heart condition, the costs become much greater because there is an increased risk that the individual will have to collect on the policy soon.

A 30-year-old can pay $20 per month for years and offset the cost of the long-term care expenses for the company very early on. This is not the case for the 67-year-old. The insurance company will need to collect as much money as they can before the individual needs long-term health care so they can offset the costs of his care.

As a result, age has a huge affect on the price of a long-term health care plan. The younger you are, the less you will pay, while the older you are the more you will pay. Hence the reason you should try and get the care you need at an early age so you can benefit from those low costs.

As you get older, you are in a greater risk area of suffering several debilitating health problems. The insurance companies look at this and they determine your eligibility for long-term care insurance programs as a result.

Do not be surprised if you end up paying over $100 more than someone 20 or 30 years younger than you. If you want to save money on your premiums, and not put more financial strain on yourself to make the payments each month, you are going to need to try and get yourself into a long-term care insurance plan early so that you have a low price for long-term care.

Conclusion It is an unfortunate reality of life that the closer you get to needing long-term care, the more you will pay on the price for long-term care insurance. Insurance companies will look at you in terms of risk, and if there is a greater risk they will be paying out sooner than later, they are going to attach higher monthly premium payments as a result. You have less time to pay towards your long-term care insurance policy, and as a result, they need to offset the potential costs of that plan by getting as much money before you need long-term care as they can.

As with anything to do with money and saving, starting earlier is always better than starting later. Long-term insurance plans are no different and early planning on your part, will mean an easier premium payment from the insurance company.

You should just ask for help from an insurance representative who specializes in long term care insurance to answer any questions.

Before you go out and buy a policy go to Long Term Care Insurance, ask questions and request a long term care insurance quote. We represent 20 of the top LTCi providers. This gives you tremendous options.

Budgeting For Retirement Is Important

August 7th, 2011 Terry Stanfield No comments

Your future can depend a lot on if you are budgeting for retirement or not. Retirement can be a great point in your life unless you have not budgeted and you are now struggling to make your monthly bill payments. You will always be faced with bills and they are likely to increase with age. When you reach a certain age you have to start worrying about your health and certain concerns that come with it. You need a budget plan in effect to keep you from struggling when you retire.

Having a budget plan will help you to save for your retirement. Take a minute to ask a few questions of yourself. How much money do you make every month? How much are you monthly expenses? Is there anything you can cut out of your monthly bills? After answering these questions you then need to find an amount you can save every month. You need to know what you spend on a monthly basis and what you are spending it on.

Try to cut out anything you are spending money on unnecessarily every month. You are already spending that money on a monthly basis so why not put that money towards your retirement plan. Any extra amount no matter how small or large is good to add to the retirement plan you have set up.

Some companies will offer a plan for your retirement like maybe a 401K plan that you may need to check out. Saving for a retirement with a 401K plan can be a great way to save. The company will withdraw a specific amount of money every pay period and put it towards your 401K. Most employers will match that amount too.

Try to decide how much you plan to have saved for retirement. You will want to budget a specific amount into the monthly expenses to help reach your goal. When you add a predetermined amount every month to the savings you can reach that retirement goal.

Do not let yourself be detoured from putting the money in your savings account every month. If you need to you can ask your company to have that amount automatically taken out of your pay check and placed in your account. You will not notice the absence of the money as much when it never goes into your hands.

You will want to be sure that your retirement budget is actually realistic. You will probably not stick to a budget that is too unrealistic. You need a nest egg built up for your retirement in order to enjoy it and not worry all the time about paying bills.

For more information on how Long Term Care Insurance can help prepare us as we age. Also you can get a long term care insurance quote. We represent 20 of the top LTCi providers. This gives you tremendous options.

How Long Term Care Insurance Help In Our Old Age

August 7th, 2011 Terry Stanfield No comments

Most of us never want to imagine growing old, being sick or needing long term care. But for 70 percent of people, this is something that they have to face. And the sad thing is that many of them are not insured with long term care insurance.

What is long term care insurance? It is an insurance policy that pays for your stay in a nursing facility or long term care facility. As people begin to live longer, the need for long term care facilities has become apparent. For this reason, it is wise for you to purchase long term care insurance.

You can use long term care insurance in many different ways. Some include the following:

After an accident If you have a catastrophic accident, the last thing you need to do is worry about the cost of the medical facility where you are being treated. In most cases, after the danger period is over, you will be transferred to a nursing home or rehabilitation facility. This can be costly and your insurance may only pay a portion for this care.

This is where long term care insurance can benefit you. It can pay what the insurance company does not cover. This way, you will not be paying out of pocket for your care.

After an illness Long term care is not often final care. In many cases, someone recovering from an illness needs nursing care around the clock but is stable enough to be moved from the hospital. In such cases, people are often sent to long term care facilities. Medicare and insurance only cover a portion of these costs. If you cannot pay, you will be forced to go on public aid – after you have sold everything you own. This can be financially devastating to you when you recover.

Long term final care If you get to a point in your life where you have an irreversible condition and need nursing care, you can get a policy that will last over 4 years. This will pay for your care in the final stages of your life and not eat away at your savings. You will not be a burden to your loved ones and will still be able to leave some money to your heirs.

None of us likes to think of these scenarios, but they happen every day. This is why it is so important to consider long term care insurance Long term care insurance can help you in many ways and allow you to retain what you worked so hard to save.

Before you go out and buy a policy go to Long Term Care Insurance, ask questions and request a long term care insurance quote. We represent 20 of the top LTCi providers. This gives you tremendous options.

What to Look For in a Long Term Care Insurance Quote

August 7th, 2011 Terry Stanfield No comments

A long-term care insurance quote is based upon many factors. You will want know these factors and this article will give you six key points to explain some of those factors. When you receive an ltci quote, it is going to be contingent upon what you want out of the policy regarding benefits levels and where you are in your life age-wise. Using the information in this article will allow you to be a smart consumer.

A long term care insurance quote is contingent upon many factors and following are some of the points to consider. Your age and what type of benefits will cause your quote to vary.

When you are thinking about long-term care, you need to think about what types of benefits you will want. You can receive in-home service, nursing home care, or community based services to give you an idea.

Your age is going to determine the cost of the policy. If you are younger and buying a policy, you will almost certainly receive a lower premium.

You will want to look at different types of companies. Your employer may be able to offer this type of insurance or you may want to look at individual companies.

The type of policy you choose will cause different quotes. You can choose a policy which will pay a maximum daily, weekly or monthly limit or one which pays up to a certain dollar amount.

The age at which you can start using your benefits will be a question that an insurance agent will ask you.

Daily benefits level is something to think over. If you want higher daily benefits limits, this will cause you to pay more for your ltci.

This article should have opened your eyes to a greater degree to what to expect when receiving a long term care insurance quote. You want to have as much information out and on the table when talking about this because it is important to know what to expect with your policy.

Before you go out and buy a policy go to Long Term Care Insurance, ask questions and request a long term care insurance quote. We represent 20 of the top LTCi providers. This gives you tremendous options.

Long Term Care 101

August 7th, 2011 Terry Stanfield No comments

What is Long-Term Care? When people consider the subject of long-term care, they often think about nursing homes. In fact, long-term care has little to do with nursing homes. Understanding the difference can help you protect your family and finances.

The Consequences of Living Longer

Long-term care is a continuum of care services and housing that you will need later in life. Think you won’t live a long life? Think back 25 years ago. If you had cancer or a stroke, you simply died. Few ever heard of Alzheimer’s. Today, it is the leading cause for long-term care services. The longer you live, the more likely you are to need care. The question is not who will take care of you, because your family will most often, but rather what will that care do to your family and finances.

Long-Term Care is Usually Custodial Care

Long-term care is defined as needing assistance with your activities of daily living (toileting, bathing, dressing, eating, transferring from one point to another, and continence). It also includes cognitive impairment so severe that the individual needs constant supervision. If you need custodial care, chances are it will be delivered in the community, not in a nursing home. Many of you have heard compelling statistics from The New England Journal of Medicine stating that 43% of those over age 65 will need nursing home care. What the article actually said is that that number may spend some time in a facility. The fact is, few end their days in one. Every study conducted finds that care is overwhelmingly provided at home. The key question, of course, is who is going to pay for it? Who Covers the Cost?

Medicare & VA

Medicare, the primary health care program for retirees pays only for skilled or rehabilitative care, not custodial care in any venue. Medicaid, a federal and state program for financially needy individuals will pay for custodial care, but primarily in nursing homes. Funding for home care and assisted living is very limited and based on availability of funds. Veterans believe that the VA will pay for home care, adult day care, or assisted living. As with Medicaid, funding is limited and generally based on service-related disability. In fact, the federal government has as much said this to veterans by encouraging them to purchase long-term care insurance through the new Federal Long-Term Care Insurance program. The result is that consumers are forced to pay privately for their care. Unfortunately, the best thought-out retirement plan rarely takes into consideration living a long life. Put another way, those assets and income have been allocated to pay for retirement, not for the consequences of living a long life. This results in the need to invade principal and divert income. As a result, one of a seniors’ greatest fear, outliving their assets, literally may come true.

The Role of Long-Term Care Insurance

The use of long-term care insurance thus becomes an important part of planning for disability caused by living a long life. The product has two roles: helping keep families together and allowing your retirement portfolio to execute for the purpose for which it was intended, namely retirement. From a family perspective, who will provide your care? Like it or not, children will play a key role. Long-term care insurance (LTCI) doesn’t replace the need for family involvement in providing care but rather builds on it. It pays professionals to assist the person with the toughest tasks such as toileting, bathing, feeding and continence. This, in turn, allows the family to provide care better and longer at home. That leads to a critical question: have YOU planned for the consequences of living a long life? From a financial point of view, LTCI allows your retirement plan to stay intact. That is particularly important given the recent steep decline in portfolio value. The product, in effect, protects the balance of your account value. LTCI also protects income. Although you may qualify for Medicaid to pay for nursing home costs by transferring assets, your income (pension, social security, IRA and or 401k payout) cannot be protected. When buying this insurance, look for a long-term care specialist. Consider their training, educational credentials, and commitment to help solve your long-term care needs. The key is whether they talk first about a plan or a product. If they are interested in the plan, you are dealing with a professional. If they focus first on product and price, consider getting another opinion.

Before you go out and buy a policy go to Long Term Care Insurance, ask questions and request a long term care insurance quote. We represent 20 of the top LTCi providers. This gives you tremendous options.

Looking After The Aging Is Among The Top Health Care Concerns

August 7th, 2011 Terry Stanfield No comments

Everyone is aging but in today’s society, many countries are approaching a point where people over the age of sixty will outnumber the younger generations. This is because better health care is helping people live longer, more productive lives. Getting the right kind of aging care is important if you want to keep enjoying a good standard of living.

Bear in mind if you’re selecting a health care facility or care method for a loved one, you need to be realistic. It may be hard to accurately view the health needs of a parent or relative since you want to think they are capable and in good health. But ignoring the needs of certain medical conditions, whether the wandering tendencies of an Alzheimer’s patient or the tremors of a person with Parkinson’s can actually do them harm.

Do you like the idea of staying in your own home? Consider a care provider who will come in and help look after your needs. Think about the specific needs you will want met, and the home itself. If mobility is a problem, someone may need to move to a home with no stairs. If you cannot lift, consider having help with your housework and yard work. You should think carefully about the different things you need to do around the house and make sure that these are taken care of in order to make living at home as successful as possible.

Once you are in a position where you are no longer willing or able to live in your home, consider moving into an assisted living facility. These allow you to have your own private room but you have the security of round the clock emergency monitoring. Depending on the facility you are living in, there are usually meals served in a communal dining room, and housekeeping services to keep your room or apartment clean and in good condition. These facilities also usually offer organized activities such as shopping trips, movies and other fun things to do. This keeps your mind and body active.

Nursing care facilities may be the next step that you will consider. Normally, a person is admitted into a nursing home when they have significant physical or mental impairments that make any level of self-care impossible. They usually have less segregated living arrangements and activities which are less varied or active. People who are suffering from altered mental states due to disease or the after effects of a stroke may require a room in a nursing facility.

If your loved one is very ill you may be forced to consider palliative care. This can be a heartbreaking decision since, by admitting palliative care is needed you are admitting that there is little to no chance your loved one will get better. Palliative care arrangements should still ensure that your loved one is well cared for and that there is mental or physical stimulation when that is possible. Remember that you never know how long your loved one has left so you should plan for them to be as comfortable as possible for as long they can.

Aging care is turning into a growth industry. Everyone is requiring more care for longer periods of time and the different levels of physical needs has caused people to need specialized aging care. Knowing what stage you or a relative has reached is the key to getting the care you, or they, need.

Before you go and buy a policy get more long-term care ins info and request a long term care insurance quote visit us today. We represent 20 of the top LTCi providers. This gives you tremendous options.