Long-Term Care Insurance

Usually less expensive the earlier you begin coverage

When I discussed Medicare a couple of weeks ago, you may have noticed that I didn’t cover long-term care. In general, people who require long-term care are not sick in the traditional sense; instead, they are unable to perform the basic activities of daily living (ADLs), such as bathing, dressing, eating, toileting, getting in and out bed, eating, and walking.

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A Medicare Primer

Free preventive care services begin in 2011

Understanding Medicare can be quite a task. I’m going to briefly explain the basics, as well as what some of the new changes will mean. Most of this information is from Medicare.gov, which is an excellent, but often overwhelming, resource.

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Long-term Care Insurance: What to Buy

A little homework will pay off

In some cases, the decision about whether or not to purchase long-term care insurance is easy to make. If your assets are below $250,000, or your current cash flow could not sustain the monthly premiums, consider forgoing coverage. If your assets are above $1.5 million, you might consider self-insuring. Read More >>

Universal Health Care: Is Medicare Really a Single-Payer Success?

One doctor's opinion

“If you want an example of a successful single-payer system, just look at Medicare,” many say. I say, not really. Read More >>

Long-term Care Insurance: Before You Decide to Buy

Understand the pros and cons

Buyers’ biggest motivation for purchasing coverage is to ensure that their estate won’t be depleted for their heirs. If your primary aim is to pass on an inheritance, then buy coverage. If this isn’t one of your estate-planning goals, consider saving your premium money and forgo coverage. Read More >>

Long-term Care Insurance: What Are Your Odds of Needing It?

And remember that unpaid care always involves other costs

The following statistics are from materials prepared by the federal Department of Health and Human Services and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services: For folks turning 65 in 2005, 79% of women will need long-term care, while 58% of men will need it.  Read More >>

Long-term Care Insurance: Some Initial Thoughts

Let’s start with some assertions that may not be obvious

This month’s blog postings are about long-term care insurance. Do you need it? How much will it cost? What are some options for financing it? Read More >>

Is There a “Death Panel” in Obama’s Health Care Bill?

Of course not, you say. Ridiculous!

But could an ABCNews.com report about 64-year-old Oregon woman Barbara Wagner suggest otherwise? When she was dying of lung cancer, the state insurance refused to pay for her cancer treatment because the drug didn’t give her a “5 percent survival after five years.” Read More >>

The Government Will Take Everything When Mom Goes into a Nursing Home

Misconception #8 of "The 12 Biggest Misconceptions of Estate Planning Clients"

This statement is untrue, IF you know what you’re doing. All states have Medicaid programs. I emphasize the name only because most of my clients confuse Medicare with Medicaid. They are two completely different government programs—with one exception, which will be covered in my next blog.

Medicaid is a federal- and state-funded program that pays for the costs of more than half of the nation’s nursing home residents. These costs currently average more than $75,000 per year. Positioning yourself to be eligible for this program is a complex endeavor, fraught with pitfalls and “gotchas.” If ever there was a time to hire an attorney, this is it. A competent elder law attorney can advise you on structuring your financial affairs to attain eligibility as fast as possible. Read More >>