Long Term Care Plans for Assisted Living:

Assisted living expenses to receive help with ambulating ourselves when we lose our abilities is not well covered by Medicare because Medicare is designed to cover Medical expenses from a physician and medical facilities.Paying a licensed professional caregiver to help us along with our daily activities is very expensive. Care at home costs an average of $100.00 per day, and $200.00 per day in a facility.Medicare in some instances will pay for limited time periods. But this offers us no security in the LONG TERM when our expenses are prolonged.

In past generations families often lived in a close-knit community and the women of the family stayed home to take care of the young and the old. Now most women work and many families are separated by distance. We are living longer, thanks to improvements in health care. But living longer does not always mean living independently.

Past generations who died younger often had estates to leave behind for their survivors. Today it is not uncommon for lifetimes of accumulated value to be consumed in the last years by the cost of supporting the expense to receive help with assisted living.

THERE IS A LOT TO WEIGH IN THE BALANCE:

1. Some decide that surviving family members can provide this care. Maybe ample money is available to assist family members to stop their way of live and devote their time to the commitment.
2. Some decide that there is enough money available to pay for the services of a care provider from outside the family.
3. Some decide that there is no way possible to provide for such expense and resort to the Welfare system.
4. Some decide to use up the value of their estate and then rely on the Welfare system.
5. Some decide to purchase Long Term Insurance to absorb the cost and preserve the value of their estate for their survivors or heirs.

THERE ARE A VARIETY OF FACTORS TO CONSIDER:

1. Even if there is money available to pay the premium for Insurance, is the health good enough to qualify for this purchase? Will you be accepted by health underwriters?
2. If there is a married couple, is the health good enough for both spouses to qualify for the purchase?
3. If only one of the married party passes health underwriting, will the estate be able to pay for the policy premium of the healthy spouse as well as pay for the care of the disabled partner out-of-pocket expenses?
4. What waiting period will you select? In other words, how long can you afford to wait before your policy kicks in?
5. How long would you want your policy to protect you?
6. Would you want a policy to provide for your care only in your home, only in a care facility, or both in a home and /or a care facility?
7. Would you want to purchase an inflation rider to automatically increase your benefit as the cost of living rises?
8. Do you want the return of premium rider?
9. Is this coverage available to you through an employment package? (Working children can purchase Long Term Care coverage through employment packages for their dependent parents; or the employment package from which the care recipient retired may have coverage available. Both of these sources usually have simplified health underwriting requirements and cost less due to group discounts.)
10. Do you want government agencies to assist you with computing the value of your estate to recommend the features and benefit amounts they feel you should purchase? (California Partnership).

CHANGES IN SOCIETY INVOLVE:

1. The women of the family used to stay home and care for the young and the old. Now most ladies work to help with family expenses.
2. The size of families have decreased, meaning that there are fewer family members to help out with the care.
3. Families used to primarily reside in a locality. Now most families are scattered all over the country or even the world. This limits the ability for family to provide the needed care.
4. The legal atmosphere often requires that family member care providers must be trained and certified to assist and many agencies object to paying family members to provide care.
5. Family members are afraid of lawsuits or legal liability in the event something goes wrong with the wellbeing of the care recipient.
6. Family members are closely scrutinized by legal entities and some family members for fear of elder abuse or capitalization of the assets of the care recipient.
7. Some Insurers who sell Long Term Care coverage and Care providing Agencies refuse to pay family members for their care of the ailing person.
8. Family members who provide the care need respite- time to get a break and or heal from the mental and physical rigors of the work involved and the emotions involved in watching deterioration of the loved family member.

IF WE WAIT UNTIL WE HAVE HEALTH PROBLEMS, NO AMOUNT OF MONEY WILL BE ADEQUATE TO PAY PREMIUM FOR AN INSURANCE PLAN BECAUSE NO INSURER WILL ACCEPT US. OR IF THE HEALTH PROBLEM IS NOT REAL SERIOUS, THE INSURER CAN RATE UP THE PREMIUM.

Welfare Medi-Cal is available for those who earn at poverty level. Nonetheless, the State can regain their expenses if there is an estate by placing a lien.

I can help you shop from several Insurance Companies, such as Mutual of Omaha and John Hancock. There are a variety of factors and riders to consider:

1. The waiting period you choose before your plan kicks in. That can be immediate, twenty days, sixty days, 90 days, 100 days or a year. The longer the waiting period, the less the premium is.
2. The maximum payout period- such as one year, two years, four years, five years, or regardless of how long you live. The shorter this benefit period is, you pay less for the premium.
3. An inflation rider can be purchased to adjust on a scale to allow for future cost increase for caregiver services.
4. You can purchase at home care only and save by not having facility coverage.
5. You can also purchase return of premium riders that periodically pay your premiums back without interest, less any claims paid.
6. You can purchase a rider that would pay for your premiums during times of claim.
7. If you have benefits still with your employment, premiums are less when you purchase with group discounts. Or if you worked for a government agency, PERS may have the best pricing for you.
8. Be ABSOLUTELY SURE when shopping that cognitive impairment (mental ability) is covered. Some policies only cover physical disability.
9. You can get a spousal discount on premium if both husband and wife have a joint policy.

Assisted living involves paying for the services of a trained professional to help us ambulate or move about to accomplish our normal daily activities. This includes walking, bathing, toileting, housekeeping, cooking, feeding & clothing ourselves.

Sometimes it includes loss of memory assistance, which involves taking prescriptions, paying household expenses, the ability to travel, speaking or communicating, and remembering who we are and who our neighbors, friends and relatives are, or where we live.