Category Archives: long term care insurance california

Alzheimer’s research and Long Term Care Coverage

CB106024_LoRes2-300x200Alzheimer’s and Dementia can be some of the hardest health challenges for families to cope with. They are also the hardest to accept and recognize as the child of a parent who is starting to become forgetful, or seems to misplace things more frequently. They can also be incredibly expensive conditions to manage because of the 24-hour care that is needed in the later stages of the condition.

Some families will try to manage by taking turns caring after loved ones that suffer from early stage dementia or Alzheimer’s. When it gets too challenging, they will often seek out agency help for a few hours of respite care when needed. As the conditions progresses though, it can become very hard on family to maintain the needed level of care, no matter how much they want to.

When my grandfather developed Alzheimer’s, we found out what a lack of planning costs. We were fortunate enough that he had built up some assets over his life, and when we sold the family home, there was enough money to pay off the $347,311.27 bill over the last four years of his life. I remember writing that final check and asking the finance person what happens to people who cannot afford it.

I was told that most of them end up in Medicaid homes having to rely on the State for help in receiving care. They do not get a lot of choice, and in many cases, the homes are only staffed at the minimum requirements because their simply is not enough money for all the extras that make the kind of care you would hope to receive possible.

With medical advances, there are now early detection tests to help people find and fight certain types of cancers, genetic conditions, and other diseases. The problem is, if you have not planned your insurance prior to screening, you could be denied coverage, and worse, face the financial ruin that can occur when the medical bills come due. IT is not uncommon on insurance applications to see the question typically worded… have you in the last six months been advised of, sought treatment for, and been told you have any of the following conditions (two pages later).

Recently NPR hosted a program on Alzheimer’s research. No cures are on the immediate horizon but they have found a genetic screen for Alzheimer’s and some techniques to slow the progress of the disease. Human trials have just begun on a drug that showed promise during animal trials. This has happened before so the head of the research team cautioned listeners to not get overly optimistic.

He strongly encouraged people with a family history of Alzheimer’s to be screened. However, he advised that they should first purchase Long Term Care insurance. Once the genetic test results are in the insurance companies may not be willing to offer them insurance policies. The results become part of your medical records and could adversely affect eligibility. His message of preparing for a long term care need before the test is good advice.

There is no better time to plan for and buy certain types of insurances then when you don’t need them. It sounds counter-intuitive we know, but that is why most insurance companies have waiting/elimination periods; they know most people don’t buy something until they plan to use it. So if you have a family history of any condition, including Alzheimer’s, get in touch with one of our specialists today to learn all the facts about coverage options so you can plan your next step before getting screened. You might be surprised at how affordable coverage can be for the people that don’t need it yet.

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

The Facts Are Clear About Long Term Care Insurance in California

The Facts Are Clear About Long Term Care Insurance

Anyone with even a passing experience with Alzheimer’s, stroke, Parkinson’s or elder frailty can appreciate the severity and financial devastation of these all-too-common life events and the inevitable care required.

This is why we want protection.

  • The average Ancient Greek lived until age 18. The median life span of a Puritan was 33. The average American  life expectancy is now about 75 years for men, 84 for women. Over half of Americans will spend part of these these extended years in long term care situations.
  • By 2030, one in five Americans will be a senior citizen. If you are a Baby Boomer, this includes you.  Americans are living longer and healthier, thanks to better diet, better medical care and safer living & working environments. Yet no one is immune to the effects of aging and longevity – effects that often result in reduced physical or mental ability.
  • In 1994, 7.3 million Americans needed long term care (LTC) services at an average cost of nearly $43,800 per year. By 2000, this number rose to 9 million Americans at nearly $55,750 per year. It’s currently near $75,000 per year. By 2030 those needing LTC will skyrocket to 23+ million Americans, with projected, individual long term care costs reaching $300,000 annually per individual!

Will you have that kind of money to spare?

With a history of millions of Americans in care situations living with longevity, elder frailty, stroke, Multiple Sclerosis, Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, Spinal Cord Injury, Cerebral Palsy, accidents and other conditions that affect 50+% of folks over age 65 , we can testify to the need for mature thinking and adult decisions when it comes to long term care planning.

If you are planning ahead and need more information on Long Term Care Insurance, please visit www.californialongtermcare.com.

Is Your Mental Model Flawed In Long-Term Care Planning?

As medical technology continues to advance and people are able to fight off diseases and recover from conditions that could have meant their death 30, 40, 50 years ago, you begin to wonder if your thoughts on long-term care planning are also in the past.

People are now living longer and fuller lives because of breakthroughs in medical science. Dr. Bruce Chernoff, President of The Scan Foundation recently spoke on PBS News Hour’s Fixing America’s Long-Term Care System segment and said, “There is a real misconception, we all have built this architecture in our mind that I’ll live a really really full life, then I’ll hit that cliff, and it will be done.” Dr. Chernoff continues his thoughts by saying, “if you look back a generation or two, people actually did live a pretty full life, and often had a very serious event from which they might not survive, or might not live a very long time.”

He contends, because this is how people have grown up, they have built a model in their mind that says, this is what happened to my parents, this is what will happen to me. This could explain why that even though statistics show 7 out of 10 people age 65 and older will need some form of long-term care assistance, the vast majority of them have not planned for it, and usually just change the subject when the topic comes up. According to Dr. Chernoff, because of medical breakthroughs and the fact that people are living longer, it is time to change that mental model.

The other issue Dr. Chernoff brings up is the lack of education on the topic of long-term care planning. Many people simply do not know what is available to them, what options they have when it comes to planning, and what considerations need to be made before that health event takes place, and you need to access long-term care services for yourself or a loved one.

Have you taken a few minutes out of your day to design what your future will look like should you require long-term care services? If you have not, there is no better time than right now to click the link below and schedule a free no obligation review for long-term care planning in California today.

You are planning to live a full life, make sure it is how you envisioned it no matter what happens.

Contact us today to explore all your current options. Fill out the form to the right and start with your free guide on Long-Term Care Insurance..

Buying Long Term Care Insurance in California

BUYING INSURANCE
By Thomas Day

Why Should You Buy Long-Term Care Insurance?

1. It will help you keep your independence and dignity. Here’s how. . . some of you will spend all your assets on care while others plan to give their money away or put it in trust. With no assets you will now qualify for a welfare program called Medicaid. Medicaid typically pays for a semiprivate room in a nursing home, and; not all nursing homes take Medicaid patients. In many states it’s not easy to get Medicaid to cover home care or pay for assisted living. Many people want to stay at home, but with Medicaid may not be able to. And assisted living is rapidly becoming a preferred alternative to nursing home care for certain disabilities but Medicaid may insist on a nursing home instead.

A nursing home is not the most desirable place to finish out one’s life. For many, a terminal stay in a nursing facility robs them of a purpose in life and strips away their dignity. As an example, have you ever thought of the indignity of being bathed, toiletted or diapered in a nursing home environment? No wonder many people express the desire to die before ever having to go into a nursing home.

For some conditions a nursing home is the only alternative, but for many long-term care patients there are more options than nursing homes. A good long term-care insurance policy covers those options and when all else fails, it pays for nursing homes too.

2. If you are married and you have a need for long-term care, your spouse may be forced to pay for an outside care giver. The cost is likely to come from your combined income and assets. If the need for paid care drags on too long, your spouse may be left with minimal cash assets for future needs. Insurance solves this problem and allows your spouse to keep the assets.


Continue reading…

Visit www.californialongtermcare.com for more information regarding Long Term Care Insurance in California.

Is Purchasing Long Term Care Insurance Worth It?

Affordable LTCI Premiums

Katie O’ Rourke
Managing Partner

There are two main reason why so many people that are planning for their retirement years tend to ignore the need for purchasing Long Term Care Insurance. One is lack of education and the other is denial of their likely need for care.

Some facts and figures from the insurance industry and the Department of Health and Human Services can help people find out if long term care insurance is worth it and the right time to learn about options:

  • 79% of the people purchasing Long Term Care policies are between ages 45-64
  • 99% of buyers keep their policy for the rest of their life
  • 49% of people receiving long-term care do so in their own homes
  • Another 24% get funds for Assisted Living Facilities
  • Each year the percent receiving insurance funds for home care services increases
  • Only 9% of baby boomers have planned for their Long Term Care needs
  • 70% of those over the age of 65 will need long term care in their lifetime
  • 71% of the benefits are paid to females
  • 67% of unpaid caregivers are female
  • 67% of the people who plan to have a loved one provide care have not ask the loved one to take care of them when the need arises
  • The number of Americans 65 or older will double over the next 35 years

The most eye opening long-term care statistic we found is the fact that 70% of people age 65 and older will need some form of long-term care services, either in their homes, in an assisted living facility, or in an acute care facility.

So if you are asking is long-term care insurance worth it… you need to consider if you will be part of the 30% who get lucky enough with their health and genetics to not require the $2,000 to $8,000+ per month in medical expenses the other 70% find they will need.

Most people do not realize how many options they actually have available to them when it comes to long-term care insurance planning. That is why when they get the facts, as the statistics prove, 99% of buyers do keep their policies for life.

You can get the facts today with no cost and no obligation and find out if long-term care insurance is worth it to you, your family, and your future.

Contact us directly and let us help you get the facts.

In California, Why Buy Long-Term Care Insurance?

BUYING INSURANCE
By Thomas Day
Original Content HERE

Why Should You Buy Long-Term Care Insurance?
1. It will help you keep your independence and dignity. Here’s how. . . some of you will spend all your assets on care while others plan to give their money away or put it in trust. With no assets you will now qualify for a welfare program called Medicaid. Medicaid typically pays for a semiprivate room in a nursing home, and; not all nursing homes take Medicaid patients. In many states it’s not easy to get Medicaid to cover home care or pay for assisted living. Many people want to stay at home, but with Medicaid may not be able to. And assisted living is rapidly becoming a preferred alternative to nursing home care for certain disabilities but Medicaid may insist on a nursing home instead.

A nursing home is not the most desirable place to finish out one’s life. For many, a terminal stay in a nursing facility robs them of a purpose in life and strips away their dignity. As an example, have you ever thought of the indignity of being bathed, toiletted or diapered in a nursing home environment? No wonder many people express the desire to die before ever having to go into a nursing home.

For some conditions a nursing home is the only alternative, but for many long-term care patients there are more options than nursing homes. A good long term-care insurance policy covers those options and when all else fails, it pays for nursing homes too.

2. If you are married and you have a need for long-term care, your spouse may be forced to pay for an outside care giver. The cost is likely to come from your combined income and assets. If the need for paid care drags on too long, your spouse may be left with minimal cash assets for future needs. Insurance solves this problem and allows your spouse to keep the assets.

3. Many healthy care-giving spouses won’t spend their money and choose to “tough it out” on their own without help. If care of a disabled spouse drags on too long, this can have a devastating effect on the physical and emotion health of the caregiver. Surveys reveal that even though healthy caregivers often don’t spend their money for help, they will use insurance if available. Insurance allows the healthy caregiver to buy much-needed respite from paid professionals, while at the same time, retaining the assets and possibly avoiding an early death from the mental and physical stress of caregiving.

4. If your children or extended family promise to take care of you when the time comes, insurance will help them do that. Probably you nor your children have thought of the prospects of moving you from place to place, changing your dirty diapers, cleaning up after “accidents” in the bathroom or helping you with bathing and dressing. Insurance will pay for aides to help with these tasks.

5. If you are single and a need for long-term care arises, insurance can pay for and coordinate that care. With insurance you won’t have to feel you would be a burden for family or friends.

6. If you have the desire to leave assets behind when you die, insurance will help preserve those assets from the cost of long term care.

Why Not Buy This Insurance When You’re Older?

1. Don’t forget that 43% of those needing long term care are under age 65. You may need it now.

2. Roughly every two years insurance companies come out with new policies. Although these policies contain many new benefits and features, they are also more expensive for new people signing up than the previous policy. Estimates are, because of this rate creep, new applicants for long-term care insurance are paying about 5% more each year than applicants at the same age would be paying with older policies. At this rate of increase, ten years from now, a policy for a 50 year old would cost 50% more than an equivalent policy for a 50 year old would cost today.

3. To get long term care insurance you must answer questions relating to your health. If you wait, you may develop a condition that would prevent you from obtaining coverage.

4. The cost of coverage increases with age. For younger ages you can get a rate that is relatively inexpensive. At older ages the rate becomes very expensive.

5. It costs less, over time, buying now than buying equivalent coverage in the future. The 20 year total cost of buying now is less than the 19 year total cost of buying next year, or the 18 year cost of the next year, and so on.

Why Not Invest the Premiums Instead of Buying Insurance?

The invested amount of premiums over 20 years, may be only 5% to 12% of the potential insurance benefit. A 6 year insurance benefit may only yield ½ year of long term care if the premiums are invested instead. Besides, if you invested premiums, where would the money come from if you needed long term care next year or even 5 or 10 years from now? The saved premium account wouldn’t have time to grow.

Why Waste Money on Insurance if You Have Assets to Cover the Cost Directly?

The same question could be asked of auto, home owner’s or medical insurance. Why not self-insure there as well? You could just as easily pay your medical bills from your pocket. Or pay for damage to your cars and loss of your home out-of-pocket and possibly save a lot of money over time? No matter what the risk, the total cost of premiums over a long period is usually a fraction of the cost of paying a claim from your own pocket. The purpose we buy insurance is to preserve assets by leveraging premiums to buy a benefit at pennies on the dollar instead of paying dollar-for-dollar out-of-pocket for a loss. The probability of a house fire is 1 in 1200, of having a major auto accident is 1 in 240 and of needing long term care is 1 in 2 . With a much higher probability doesn’t long term care insurance make as much sense as buying those other coverages?

Why Don’t You Get Your Money Back if You Don’t Use the Insurance?
This question always begs the underlying reason for it’s being asked. In essence the person with this concern is thinking, “it won’t happen to me, so it’s a waste of money”. To play to this objection, many carriers design policies with cash values, life insurance death benefits or return of premium at death. But these features increase premium cost and sometimes make coverage unaffordable. The same question could be asked of all insurance. Why don’t we get a refund with term life, health, disability, commercial lines, auto, or homeowners insurance? People seem to take it in stride, paying $80,000 for auto insurance or $20,000 for homeowners insurance over their lifetime. Then when they make a claim, if they ever do, they get their coverage canceled or more likely their rates are increased to cover the cost of the claim. Yet, out of denial or ignorance they can’t see why they should pay $40,000 over their lifetime for long-term care insurance where the probability for a claim is higher and the risk of loss is 4 to 10 times higher than the risk of loss with a car or home.

If you would like more information regarding Long Term Care Insurance, please visit us at  www.californialongtermcare.com.