Anyone Have a Good Experience using John Hancock Long Term Care insurance?

[MissMolly]

We actually had no problems with John Hancock covering my mom. But, she had been DX'd with frontal lobe dementia and another LTC rep told me she would be a shoo-in for coverage due to that. First they covered in-home care with aids, and when she got beyond being able to stay at home, they covered her assisted living costs.

[Sarah S]

My sister had no issues with JH. They approved her right away ( though she had a waiting period for home care ) and paid for a few home renovations ( to the limit allowed). I suspect certain diagnoses are easier to get approval as with the FTD above. My sister had ALS.

[mickeyd]

John Hancock is in business to make money. Paying out money defeats the purpose. Delay, deny, repeat.

All the more reason to self-insure all LTC risks.

[Banned LTC Salesman]

When my relative decided to file a claim on her long-term care policy we contacted one of the national home care agencies and they handled it for us. This particular home care company processes thousands of long-term care insurance claims every year. All we had to do was sign a couple of HIPAA forms and they took care of the rest. Her claim was approved in three weeks and it was with John Hancock.

If you think about it this makes perfect sense. The home care agencies get paid by the long-term care insurance companies. The bigger home care agencies have a financial incentive to set up a system to successfully process long-term care insurance claims. They know each company's nuances.

The hard part about filing a long-term care insurance claim is that it’s something you only do ONCE in your lifetime. Most doctors don’t know what’s required to file a claim. Each state has laws that require the insurance companies to make a claims decision, usually within 60 days of receiving the claim form. If the insurance company has not received the medical records and the claim certification from your doctor within that time period the insurance company has to deny the claim. You then have to re-open it, which is a real pain.

We were very pleased with the process.

[REWahoo]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Banned LTC Salesman When my relative decided to file a claim on her long-term care policy we contacted one of the national home care agencies and they handled it for us. This particular home care company processes thousands of long-term care insurance claims every year.

Can you let us know which agency you used? Was your only relationship with this company your claims filing requirement?

[Banned LTC Salesman]

Quote:

Originally Posted by REWahoo Can you let us know which agency you used? Was your only relationship with this company your claims filing requirement?

The agency is called Amada Senior Care, but I'm sure that there are others. It's my understanding that Amada processes the claims for free with the hopes that you'll hire them to provide home care.

I don't understand your second question. Can you re-state it?

[REWahoo]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Banned LTC Salesman I don't understand your second question. Can you re-state it?

I think you answered it with your response - thank you.

I was attempting to ask if you were using the agency's home care services and they filed the LTC claim as part of that service, or if one could use them to file a claim as a one-off.

[Banned LTC Salesman]

Quote:

Originally Posted by REWahoo I think you answered it with your response - thank you. I was attempting to ask if you were using the agency's home care services and they filed the LTC claim as part of that service, or if one could use them to file a claim as a one-off.

It seems like a no-brainer to allow them to file the claim and get it approved and at least use their services for a few months.

They got our claim approved, my relative used their home care aides for about two months but then she moved to an assisted-living facility. When she moved to the assisted-living facility Hancock had to get the care notes from the assisted-living facility before they would continue to pay the claim. But that wasn't a big deal. We just had to bug the ALF administrator a few times until she finally sent the notes to Hancock.

[REWahoo]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Banned LTC Salesman It seems like a no-brainer to allow them to file the claim and get it approved and at least use their services for a few months.

It is definitely worth consideration.

Thank you for posting about this option for filing LTCI claims. I wasn't aware this service was available.

[JPatrick]

For anyone involved with elder care, I'd recommend picking up a copy of the Nolo Book that covers that subject. I have not read the book myself, but I can speak to the accuracy and thoroughness of their publications in general. I used the book concerning car wreck cases to kick some insurance company butt when they tried to screw over my teenage son.
https://store.nolo.com/products/elder-care

[easysurfer]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Banned LTC Salesman The agency is called Amada Senior Care, but I'm sure that there are others. It's my understanding that Amada processes the claims for free with the hopes that you'll hire them to provide home care. ...

Quote:

Originally Posted by REWahoo It is definitely worth consideration. Thank you for posting about this option for filing LTCI claims. I wasn't aware this service was available.

This information is wonderful! After reading the initial posts about LTCI and John Hancock, I was feeling very discouraged and almost ready to quit my coverage. Now there is hope! I not anywhere near needing LTC services yet, but still, great info to know.

[youbet]

Quote:

Originally Posted by John Galt III The fiasco of the claim for the aides, in which the ccrc staff and John Hancock were incompetent and sloppy makes me think the same thing will happen when we file a claim for the memory care. And not to muddy the waters, but it is the staff of the ccrc who wants (insists) that Dad move to memory care, due to him not being sufficiently controlled by Mom.

If approved and covered by John Hancock, is your mom OK with your dad moving to the memory care unit?

Based on the experience an older friend of mine is having with his LTC insurance, it would likely be easier to get the memory care unit coverage approved than memory care aides assisting in the assisted living section. I don't know why but the insurance companies seem to balk at paying for ala carte services to allow a client to stay in lower level of care units.

What type of CCRC contract (A, B or C) do your folks have? Is it lifecare where the CCRC begins picking up the costs for full nursing or memory care when needed?

Good luck with all this. It's tough stuff to deal with. We just lost MIL after 4+ years in a NH where we navigated getting her into a top notch facility even though she could only private pay for 2 years, the transition to Medicaid and ensuring quality care all along the way.

[John Galt III]

Quote:

Originally Posted by youbet If approved and covered by John Hancock, is your mom OK with your dad moving to the memory care unit? ................ She says would rather keep things the way they are (with her constant monitoring of Dad) but she accepts the fact that the ccrc is demanding Dad move to memory care. I think she is slightly intimidated by the staff also. My sister thinks the CCRC is justified in making Dad go to memory care because he is a liability for them since he may wander off unnoticed and God knows what might happen to him. I've thought of resisting the move to mem care for Dad, but I just want to do what Mom wants. Even though she may not know what she wants. Dad is a huge burden on her, and she might be happier if he went to memory care, as long as she could still see him often enough, and go to dinner in the on-site restaurant with him every day. I've seen Dad be dropped off at the memory care unit already for a few hours at a time while Mom goes out shopping or something, and he is fine with it as long as he knows what he is supposed to do, like sit in this chair with these other folks and watch TV, or whatever activity they are doing). The staff have been letting Mom drop Dad off there occasionally for the last few weeks, for free. They must be getting him used to it, for a seamless transition when the time comes. ......................... Based on the experience an older friend of mine is having with his LTC insurance, it would likely be easier to get the memory care unit coverage approved than memory care aides assisting in the assisted living section. I don't know why but the insurance companies seem to balk at paying for ala carte services to allow a client to stay in lower level of care units. ...................... Mom does not like the idea of 24 hour aides, with the lack of privacy. We were under the impression the 24 hr aides would be coming to the independent living residence. .......................... What type of CCRC contract (A, B or C) do your folks have? Is it lifecare where the CCRC begins picking up the costs for full nursing or memory care when needed? ....................... Not sure if A, B, or C. They pay one monthly price for their independent living apartment, $6,100. If they move to another section, like assisted living or memory care, they pay the current price for those places. Memory care would be $7,600 per month for one person, plus possible additional charges. If approved, the LTC insurance would pay $216 per day, approx $6,480 per month. The lifetime max is $160,000. The CCRC will not pick up any costs for anything, as far as I know, with the exception being that I have heard they will allow folks to stay there after their money runs out, and are on Medicaid, but I have not seen that in writing. ......................... Good luck with all this. It's tough stuff to deal with. We just lost MIL after 4+ years in a NH where we navigated getting her into a top notch facility even though she could only private pay for 2 years, the transition to Medicaid and ensuring quality care all along the way.

.......................

[John Galt III]

Just want to post here today to say that after the initial problems I already mentioned, the John Hancock Long Term Care policy is working the way it is supposed to, paying what it is supposed to, month after month, to my Mom for the memory care unit my Dad is in. So it has worked out, after all !

[medved]

My mother had an LTC policy through JH. When she needed to go on benefit, JH initially denied her claim. I prepared an appeal for her, and JH reversed itself. Since then, JH has paid the bills pretty well. On occasion, they seem to have misplaced a bill -- so it is important to keep track of everything. But I would say it has been more good than bad. And JH has paid out a fair amount of money.

I have an LTC policy too. I am not sure it was a smart decision, especially since the premiums have increased since I bought it. I could have self-insured and I probably should have done so. On the other hand, I have an unusually good policy, including an indemnity and "total home care" feature. In other words, once I meet the requirement to go on benefit (requiring substantial assistance with two or more ADLs), I get the payment every month regardless of who is providing my care or where it is being provided. So, for example, if my wife were caring for me, for free, at home, I would still get the payment every month. Most policies are not like that.