Author Archives: Katie

Long Term Insurance Quotes

If paying for long term care is on your mind, you’ve come to the right place for good information and free long term care insurance quotes.  If you want to get started immediately, contact us now for a free quote, with no obligation.

However, if you’d like more information, we invite you to read the next 300 words.  In just two minutes, we’ll point out 3 things you need to know when you compare long term care products and pricing.

The Top 3 Things You Need to Know About Getting Long Term Care Insurance Quotes in California

We feel obligated to provide a few words of advice so you are armed with good information when you’re investigating long term care insurance costs and options.

When you ask for California long term care insurance quotes:

  • Be sure you are comparing apples to apples and not apples to oranges.  This means that there are many different options and a myriad of long term care products available.  Be sure that the product selections are the same when comparing quotes. 
  • Then, take into consideration the quality of the company as well.  You need to make sure that the insurance company will still be there years from now, when you need it.   In addition, you need to understand whether the premiums can be raised and, if so, how often and by how much. 
  • Lastly, consider products other than just straight long term care insurance offerings.  For example, long term care annuities and the hybrid of life insurance with an LTC rider are really hot now.  Find out whether either would be a good fit for you. 

How to Get a California Long Term Care Insurance Quote

Whether you want a quick quote to compare to others you are gathering or you want to ask questions and get professional guidance, we have a team of highly trained professional ready to take your call. 

Of course, there’s no cost or obligation when you call to learn about California long term care insurance products or to get a quote.  We look forward to serving you.

 

Who is California Long Term Care Insurance Services, Inc.?

Who is California Long Term Care Insurance Services, Inc?

We have become California’s largest independent long term care insurance brokerage. The organization is run by three professionals who, together, have 100 years of exclusive long term care insurance experience, and have sold $50,000,000 of long term care insurance premiums. We expect to continue to grow over many years.

The brokerage has appointed agents statewide. Most of these agents have had many years of long term care insurance experience, and as a group, they are among the most highly trained in the industry. They represent many of the top long term care insurance companies. The agents are given the ability and motivation to custom-tailor a plan to a client’s individual needs.

We specialize exclusively in long term care solutions. There has been a growth of different products intended to solve long-term care problems, and we understand how all of them work. Long term care insurance has become a very complicated product to understand. We believe you deserve expertise to guide your long term care decision, just as you would utilize the expertise of an attorney to guide your estate planning.

Our Mission

The mission of California Long Term Care Insurance Services is to enable Californians to retain their dignity, independence, and assets in the increasingly likely event that they will become sick or injured and need long term care.

Our Goal

Our goal is to give service to our clients the way we would want an agent to give service to us. We strive to have integrity in what we say and do, keep the promises we make, and respect the dignity of our clients. We believe that we are rendering a service that is a needed and essential one for many Californians.

Contact Us

P.O. 460640
San Francisco CA 94146
info@cltcinsurance.com
Phone: (800) 303-1527
Fax (650) 692-5204

Long Term Care Insurance in California

If we had a magic wand, we’d wave it over the beautiful state of California and endow each resident with good health and long term care insurance in California.  California residents would stop worrying and start sleeping better at night, knowing their future care was guaranteed and they would never have to impoverish themselves or be a burden on their families. 

Our magic wand is still in development.  So, in the meantime, if you want to rest, assured that your bases are covered for the future, you’ll need to take action.

Your first step is to read on.

The 5 Ways to Pay for Long Term Care in California

There are 5 ways to pay for long term care in California and we’ll provide highlights of each:

  1. Private pay
  2. Long Term Care Insurance
  3. Life insurance or annuities with long-term care or chronic illness riders
  4. Medi-Cal
  5. Veterans’ Benefits

(Medicare isn’t listed because it’s health insurance, not long term care insurance.  You can’t count on it to pay for long term care.)

Private Pay for Long Term Care in California

If you have gobs of money, you could self-insure and private pay for your long term care; however,  

  • In 2020, California nursing home costs average about $300 for a shared room and $350 for a private room.
  • If you’re in an urban area such as San Diego, Los Angeles, or San Francisco, rates are much higher, up to $497 per day.
  • Let’s figure that out.  Average nursing home stays are about 2.5 years to 3 years, so we’ll use the 3-year cost factor.  Here goes:  Even if we took the lowest rate of $300 × 2.5 years × 365 days, that’s $273,750.
  • If your spouse or partner needs the same care, we’d have to double that fee to $547,500.
  • And, surprisingly, this doesn’t cover everything such as an attendant, medical co-payments, clothes, haircuts, toiletry supplies, and the hairdresser.

Is private paying for long term care in California a good option for you?

Long Term Care Insurance in California

Long term care insurance in California pays for care at home or in an assisted living facility or nursing home.  Policies are customized so that you can:

  • Include a deductible to reduce premiums
  • Purchase policies of different lengths such as a 3-year policy or a 5-year policy.
  • Get your insurance premiums back if you never use the policy.
  • Buy a life insurance rider to leave an inheritance for loved ones or pay last bills.
  • Include an inflation rider so that your coverage increases as California long-term care fees increase.
  • Consider a myriad of other features that are a good fit for you.
  • Fees for Long term care insurance in California vary depending on your age, health, and the features you choose.  It’s essential that you consult with a highly qualified LTC insurance professional who knows his or her stuff!

Wouldn’t it make sense to find out more about long term care insurance in California?

Life insurance or annuities:

  • Life insurance or annuities with long-term care or chronic illness riders have become popular.
  • These pay a combination of a death benefit, a long-term care benefit, or a refund.
  • Qualifications to receive benefits are similar to traditional long-term care insurance policies.
  • The rates are normally guaranteed.
  • The cost is greater than the cost of traditional long-term care insurance because you get solutions to two problems instead of just one.

Medi-Cal instead of Long Term Care Insurance in California

Medi-Cal is an important and valuable program.  It pays for health care and nursing home care for those who are impoverished.  To qualify for the program, you must have next to no assets and little income. 

  • This means you must spend down nearly all of your assets to qualify.
  • In addition, all of your income, such as your social security check or pension, will go to the nursing home, not to you.

If you’re truly impoverished, living below the poverty line or close to it, Medi-Cal is a fantastic safety net and you should further explore its benefits.  You are why Medi-Cal exists. 

However, if your income and assets are not at the poverty level, it likely makes sense to explore other ways to pay for long-term care.

Veterans’ Benefits to Pay for Long Term Care in California

In great appreciation of service to our country, the government does provide limited veteran’s benefits to pay for long term care in California.

  • These benefits are limited to veterans and their spouses, who have few assets and very low income.
  • The veteran must have served a minimum of 90 days, with at least one day during wartime.
  • This program is called Aid and Attendance.

The bottom line is that there are 5 ways to pay for long term care in California. Be sure to analyze your California long term care payment choices, before you need them.  If you would like our help, contact us, we’ll be happy to assist in any way we can.  We look forward to hearing from you.

Long Term Care insurance premiums can be tax deductible

IRS increases 2021 tax deduction limits for long-term care insurance. The 2021 deductible…

2021 tax deduction limits for long-term care insurance
Attained age before close of tax year 2020
Age Deduction Limit
40 or less $450
More than 40 but not more than 50 $850
More than 50 but not more than 60 $1,690
More than 60 but not more than 70 $4,520
More than 70 $5,640

Individual taxpayers are allowed to deduct the cost of their policy (and that of their spouse) as part of their medical expense deduction to the extent that their medical expenses exceed 10% of their adjusted gross income. Those who are self-employed or own an LLC, S Corp, or C Corp have more extensive deductions. Ask for our Tax Guide. Tax-qualified long-term care insurance benefits are generally tax-free.

November is Long Term Care Awareness Month

How will you pay for Long Term Care services?

People work a lifetime to accumulate assets to see them through retirement. Unfortunately, relying on those assets to fund long-term care services may mean:
• Selling stocks or property, cashing in CDs or dipping into 401(k) or savings accounts
• Paying unexpected capital gains tax, income tax and potential surrender charges
• Foregoing returns the liquidated assets were expected to generate
• Abandoning plans to leave an inheritance to children and grandchildren

Planning now means having better choices later.

Life Insurance That Pays For Long Term Care? 2 Birds 1 Stone.

When people think of life insurance, in most cases, they think about end of life. However, did you know that some life insurance policies could also help while you are still alive?

In a recent news article on the spectrum.com they offered an example which, in certain life insurance policies you can opt for a rider that also pays long term care benefits. Should you access those benefits, your overall death benefit is reduced by that amount, up to the value of the insurance.

The long-term care riders are usually attached through an accelerated benefits rider, or extension of benefits rider. The accelerated benefits rider usually kicks in when it has been determined that your life expectancy is 12 months or less.

The extension of benefits rider is just like it sounds, not only do you get the life benefit, but the insurer may also offer long-term care, and for an extra premium, you can add that on to your life policy and have a more complete plan in place, and only pay one premium amount for the coverage.

If you are someone that has some assets to protect, has a concern about income in retirement, and has a concern about your health needs in retirement and like to plan, a life policy with a long-term care rider might be a good place to look.

Before taking any actions though, it is recommended that you speak with your qualified representatives to make sure the plan you are thinking about fits with your tax and other planning needs.

And considering that nearly 70% of people age 65 and older will require some form of long term care health assistance in their lifetime, it would be a wise decision to plan ahead before something happens that prevents you from qualifying for long term care insurance.

Long-term care insurance helps pay for medical needs that Medicare, disability, and normal health insurance does not cover. People that require long-term care often have trouble with performing ADLs (activities of daily living). These activities include eating, dressing, bathing, mobility, continence, or suffering from cognitive impairments.

To start learning about your available options, start your conversation with a California Long Term Care Insurance Services specialist today.

Fill out the form to the right and get started today!

Source: http://www.thespectrum.com/story/news/local/2015/10/08/life-insurance-riders-pay-long-term-care/73614456/

Long-Term Care Insurance Statistics That Affect Your Planning

In a recent Morningstar article on Long Term Care statistics, author Christie Benz, Morningstar’s director of personal finance and author of 30-Minute Money Solutions, outlined industry statistics you should know when planning your insurance needs in retirement.

According to Benz, “Ultimately, the decision about whether to purchase long-term-care insurance is a highly personal one, dependent on an individual’s or couple’s asset level and desire to leave a bequest, health history, and the peace of mind derived from having the coverage, among other factors.”

So what does some of the long-term care insurance and services look like by the numbers Benz researched?

  • 8 Million People experience problems with daily living activities, i.e., bathing, dressing, washing, eating, and other basic needs.
  • 13 Million Adults have difficulty living independently.
  • 44% of men will need long-term care services during their lifetime.
  • 58% of women will need those same services during their lifetime.
  • 4% is the 5 year annual inflation rate in nursing home costs for private and semi-private rooms. If you do not have an inflation rider on your policy, it is worth 4% less each year you own it.
  • $5,518 is the median total household wealth of people that have lived in a nursing home for 6 months or more. Do you think asset protection is important now?
  • $450 Billion is the estimate value of unpaid care provided by friends and family members caring for a loved one.
  • $7.8 Billion is the amount of claims paid for long-term care in 2014.
  • 45% is the number of applications denied to applicants’ age 70-79 who put off planning and now have health issues to manage.
  • 100% if you have not started planning, the time is now.

Contact your California Long Term Care Insurance Services specialist today for a no obligation conversation about your options. Start by filling out the form to the right and downloading your Free Guide.

Source: http://news.morningstar.com/articlenet/article.aspx?id=715947&part=1

Have You Accepted The Default Long-Term Care plan?

In a recent article on Marketwatch.com by Retirement Reporter Elizabeth O’Brien, she discussed what the costs for long-term care insurance look like, and how people plan for their health care needs in the future when they are no longer able to care for themselves.

In O’Brien’s article, she references the average cost for a 55-year old couple on a common LTC plan to be around $5,000 per year in premium dollars. While that is a sizable amount for people to budget with insurance, O’Brien comments, “Consumers should think of long-term care insurance as one way to help defray the cost of home health aides or a care facility and to protect their hard-earned nest eggs in the process…”

The article continues on covering the common misconceptions about Medicare and custodial care. Unfortunately, many people believe Medicare covers long-term care expenses. The reality is, while Medicare may cover up to 100 days of skilled nursing, it is not going to cover long-term custodial care. There is a difference between skilled care and custodial care.

O’Brien offers from her research that the median annual cost for private rooms runs over $91,000, and a home health aide could run upwards of $45,000 or more. Without a solid nest egg in place, these costs could easily wipe out any savings available to most families.

An interesting point in the article is how people could end up with a “default long-term care plan”.

“Everybody has a long-term care plan, said Eileen Dunn, a geriatric care manager with Associates of Clifton Park, a Clifton Park, N.Y.-based company that sells long-term care and other insurance to clients of financial advisers. Those who do not consciously make a plan are on the “default plan,” Dunn said. “When something happens, you’re not going to have a choice.” That is, you’re not going to have a choice but to spend down your assets” (O’Brien, 2015, pp. 7)

If you have accepted the default plan as your option, then you should at least research “spend down” requirements for your State, so you know what will happen and how it will affect your family. You can usually get these requirements from the State welfare offices.

The choice is yours, make yours!

Choice 1: I am willing to lose the things I worked for in life.

Choice 2: I want to protect my assets and have a choice.

If you selected Choice 2 and would rather have options in your care, fill out the form to the right and contact a California Long Term Care specialist today to get the conversation started.

Reference:

O’Brien, E., (June 2015) Can you afford $5,000 a year for long-term care insurance? Retrieved 8/9/2015 at http://www.marketwatch.com/story/can-you-afford-5000-a-year-for-long-term-care-insurance-2015-06-25

Long Term Care Insurance Cost

You can likely guess that long term care insurance costs might be a valid concern while planning for the future.  After all, in California, the average cost of a shared room in a nursing home is about $300 and for a private room, the cost is about $350 per day.  So, how much is the insurance that pays for nursing home care?

We’ll talk about the cost of long term care insurance, but first we need to be on the same page about what it costs if you or a loved one needs long term care. 

Long Term Care Costs

If you haven’t looked at the numbers yet, this is going to be a shocker.  These numbers are for the state of California.

  • Pulling in the $300/$350 per day, that’s $109,500 to $127,750 a year, on average. 
  • High cost of living areas like San Francisco, San Diego, and Los Angeles demand much higher payments – even up to $497 per day, which is $181,405 per year. 
  • The average stay in a nursing home is 2.5 years.  That’s $273,750, on average, for a shared room. 
  • If a couple needs care, the costs are doubled.  That’s $547,500. 
  • Shockingly, these fees are for basic care; they don’t include personal products like Depends, sitters and attendants, or getting your hair or nails done. 
  • And, lastly, an important question:  With health care costs skyrocketing at more than 4% annually, how much will that nursing home cost by the time you need it?  Yikes! 

Long Term Care Insurance Costs

This is actually good news:

  • All the premiums, you pay over your entire lifetime, will likely be less than the cost of one year in a nursing home. 
  • You can pick a long term insurance policy that fits your budget.  If premiums are going to take food off your table, you shouldn’t buy it, but, otherwise, there are a myriad of ways to make it work. 
  • New products have been developed which feature long-term care riders and chronic illness riders as a part of a life insurance policy or an annuity.
  • Long term care annuities allow you to get ALL your money back if you don’t use it to pay for LTC. 
  • Costs depend on how much protection you buy, the options you select, your age at purchase, and your health when you apply for coverage. 
  • Costs vary widely, depending on your coverage selections as well as your age and health.  For example, long term care insurance costs may range from a $1,500 to $7,000+, depending on your individual situation and goals. 

We know the numbers can be overwhelming and you’re not sure what numbers will end up applying to you.  But, we can’t provide specific information for everyone on a website, so we offer a free information conversation.

You are entitled to a free, no-obligation analysis of your individual situation.  Contact us to find out your long term care insurance cost and plan options.  Be sure to ask about long term care annuities as well.  Call now to get the answers you need so you can stop worrying.

Long Term Care Insurance Benefits Mean Better Choices

Affordable LTCI Premiums

Katie O’ Rourke
Managing Partner

Many people don’t start thinking about long term care insurance benefits until it’s too late. However, it is important to understand that illnesses and accidents often happen unexpectedly throughout life, and being prepared can help protect you from large out-of-pocket expenses.  

What is long term care insurance?

Long-term insurance, or LTC, is a type of health insurance that will cover long-term care, not having the standard time limitations.

In contrary to what many believe, long term care insurance is not only for elderly, since many people encounter costs for medical care earlier in their life. By signing up before any issues arise, you can protect your future more affordably.

Long Term Care Insurance Benefits Everyone

Many people who become sick, and do not use a long term care insurance plan, will have to rely on family members for help, or end up with debt due to high medical bills. However, if you use long term care insurance coverage, those medical bills won’t be a problem and you will only have to worry about getting better.

What does Long Term Care Insurance cover?

The coverage depends somewhat on the policy you have, but always covers more than your average health insurance plan. LTC usually covers nursing homes, assisted living, home care, respite care, adult daycare, hospice care and even Alzheimer facilities. It can pay for a companion, live-in caregiver, therapist, housekeeper or private duty nurse.

Why consider Long Term Care Insurance benefits on top of my health INSURANCE?

Contrary to what is believed, normal health insurance does not cover the majority of your long-term medical expenses. Even though you have health insurance, you might encounter an expensive surprise when you, or a family member, needs permanent care. Making sure you and your family are taken care of is therefore the number 1 priority.

Home care services

Home care services are essential to people with long-term illnesses. They are usually provided by healthcare professionals or caregivers that can help with everyday activities such as dressing, bathing and eating.

Live-in Caregiver

In some cases, you or a family member might become ill and need the help of a live-in caregiver. This is something that also falls under the Long Term Care Insurance. If you are covered, you won’t have to worry about unpaid medical or care bills, because this type of insurance will take care of everything for you.

These services are not necessarily always for those who are fully debilitated. One of my clients has a full time live-in care giver because she suffers from vertigo and has fallen several times. She needs assistance with bathing, dressing and housekeeping because of her balance problems. However, she still drives and we go out to lunch together regularly. That’s probably not what you expect to hear about someone that needs care.

Everyone can benefit!

Unforeseen circumstances can affect people at any age, including under 65, and to varying degrees. This is a reality that many people neglect to foresee, which unfortunately causes them to be unprepared. Brain tumors, cancer, injuries, accidents, strokes, aids and even mental conditions, can leave you with hefty medical costs if they are not covered by the proper insurance. Therefore, understanding the options and benefits of long term care insurance now can help protect your health, finances and future. Having a plan, means having better choices.

To speak to a representative or schedule an appointment, simply fill out the form to the right to contact us.