Long Term Care

[TinyFish]

Hi all,

My parents are trying to make a decision about buying some long term care insurance. I'm helping with research. Does anyone have any advice or good articles?

Thanks.

-TinyFish

[LuxLiving]

try here:

http://www.longtermcarelink.net/eldercare.htm

[Ima saver]

I am not going to buy any. No one in my family lived to be very old. By the time i was 33, I had lost almost everyone in my family, parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles. My sister died a long time ago as did all of my cousins.

[TinyFish]

Well, I guess I could TRY asking my parents not to become elderly, Ima, but since my dad is almost 70, I'm not sure how that would work out! His mother called him (collect) on his 50th birthday to remind him that it was the same age as his father was when he died!

Anyhow, needing long-term care isn't so much a factor of longevity as it is of what final illnesses you have. You could live sprightily until you are 90 and die suddenly in your sleep. Or you can become ill and need care when you are 75! Unfortunately (fortunately?) none of us know exactlyhow and when we will clock out!

-E!

[LuxLiving]

TinyFish - what did your folks decide on the Long Term Care insurance?

Priority one for me right now is getting The Hubster and mine's life insurance policies reviewed, updated or replaced....then it'll be on to getting us some Long Term Care Insurance.

I have a hard sell with him as he does not like salesmen of any type and car salesmen and insurance salesmen are his least favorites.

I'd be very interested in hearing about your research and your parent's decision and their buying experience. Bringing this to the top.

[scrava]

Good job, to your parents! I'm young now and already know I won't put that burden on my kids. I'll get it..someday ;-)

[Bluezy]

Originally Posted by Ima saver

I am not going to buy any. No one in my family lived to be very old. By the time i was 33, I had lost almost everyone in my family, parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles. My sister died a long time ago as did all of my cousins.

Dearest friend Ima:

You could very well be the first in your family with a "Super Woman" gene and live to be 150 . But seriously, don't discount LTC (Long Term Care) policies. Those policies have helped many of our skilled nursing facility clients, many of whom had no other family for the government to pursue for payment, by providing enough stipend coupled with their social security income keep them off ICP Medicaid and keep them alive.

The DRA (Deficit Reduction Act) signed by Congress in February, 2006, has resulted in sweeping ICP Medicaid reform, and is making it more difficult for elders to get care long after the elder's assets run out. The LTC policies have picked up a portion of payment for long term care ranging from 5-7 years.

Cheers Hun!

[LuxLiving]

Yes Ima, I've been worrying about you on this one myself!! My thoughts - better to have it and not need it than need it and not have it!!

Was looking online this weekend at some of the assisted living condo/apartment like situations available out there in the US. Many of them had information on people's long term care insurance picking up part of the tab for them to be able to stay there.

Do we want to go live in these places? Not necessarily...but like I said, I'd rather have it as an option. Some of these places are very swanky and nice.

What if my sons marry someone who doesn't get along with me? Would I be forced to move in with them at some point because I'm unable to live alone? Not going to happen as I intend to find a reputable company that's tops in this field and go with them. (And I DO intend my boys to marry really nice girls but hey I've watched enough Judge Judy and that type of show to know it doesn't always happen like we'd hope!)

Bluezy, do you have any company names that you'd like to toss out as being good 'payers' and that you think will be around for the long haul? I'm thinking that I might be a good 30+ years away from needing one, but want to get started soon with coverage. They say buying earlier is least costly in the long run.

[TinyFish]

Hi all,

We are still working on this. A friend of the family recently died very suddenly. My sister went to my parent's house for the funeral. This kinda put off the final decision a little bit as it would have been a bit tactless under the circumstances. Then, this week, another old family friend died (old in both years and in that I have known her for quite some time, she was like an auntie or granny to me), so we've been talking about that, rather than other issues. Sorrowful times.

I've talked to my mom a little about it a couple of weeks ago, though. They are getting some more information about the costs. The original estimate didn't include an inflation rider, so I strongly encouraged them to do that. I also disillusioned them about the cost of nursing home facilities. It seems the policy pays around 130K over 3 years. I'm thinking this would probably not cover all the cost if they needed actual nursing home care, but it might go a long way to helping with, say, some in-home nursing, etc and would be better than nothing.

Mom is funny. In an attempt to sound 'fair' about things, she talked about the possibility of living with either me or my sister someday (If, say, my dad became ill and they ran out of assets). I told her good luck with that. Our house is 810 square feet! We worked out that she could rent the shed in the backyard from us as a very reasonable rate and borrow the dog and a pile of cats to keep warm.

-TinyFish

[pearlieq]

The other thing to think of, Ima, is that you don't need to be old to need long-term care.

What if you suddenly became severly disabled? What if you were injured and needed a few months of nursing home care before you could go home? That happened to a very dear friend of mine--she was in bad car crash and had to spend about 8 weeks in a nursing home before she was stable enough to go home.

Also, of course, there are no guarantees about how long you'll live. Even if your family tends to pass on young, you could very likely be the exception to that rule!