CRLLS
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
I want to share some real numbers DMIL experienced in her last year or so. She had a LTC insurance policy and needed assistance. She filed to collect on her policy. To start, there was an evaluation to determine she really needed assistance.
Once approved, there was a 90 day waiting period before she could begin receiving any benefits. In addition, since she was still at home, she still was required to continue paying her premiums.
Her benefit was lower than it could have been due to her selecting home care instead of a 24hr care facility.
Her 12 hr/day home care cost was around $324 per day/$9720 per month. From that $86per day/$2589 per month was covered by her LTC policy. That meant her out of pocket was $7,140 per month.
Had she chosen to go into a care facility, the average costs here run around $6,000 per month. She would have been getting 24 hr care not just 12hr care at home. Her LTC policy would have paid the higher $156 per day/$4,680 per month, leaving her out of pocket expense of only $1,320.
In her last month, she needed 24 hr care and that was still done in her home. I do not know the financial numbers for that last month. I do know she still had premiums to cover.
She was more comfortable staying in her own home until the end. I think the wanting to stay in their home is more than commonplace as we age. 12hr care per day is expensive and care time per day is lower than being in a facility. It is more personal care for certain. That is good. Fortunately DMIL had the resources to cover her share of the costs.
I share this information to show how the decisions made when LTC insurance benefits is needed might affect the overall financial picture. There are a lot of discussions on this site using "LTC Insurance" and it is often used as a general catch all term. Policies do vary as do their coverage/terms. They are not all the same. The decisions we make early on when choosing a policy can have less than anticipated coverage when the time comes.
Once approved, there was a 90 day waiting period before she could begin receiving any benefits. In addition, since she was still at home, she still was required to continue paying her premiums.
Her benefit was lower than it could have been due to her selecting home care instead of a 24hr care facility.
Her 12 hr/day home care cost was around $324 per day/$9720 per month. From that $86per day/$2589 per month was covered by her LTC policy. That meant her out of pocket was $7,140 per month.
Had she chosen to go into a care facility, the average costs here run around $6,000 per month. She would have been getting 24 hr care not just 12hr care at home. Her LTC policy would have paid the higher $156 per day/$4,680 per month, leaving her out of pocket expense of only $1,320.
In her last month, she needed 24 hr care and that was still done in her home. I do not know the financial numbers for that last month. I do know she still had premiums to cover.
She was more comfortable staying in her own home until the end. I think the wanting to stay in their home is more than commonplace as we age. 12hr care per day is expensive and care time per day is lower than being in a facility. It is more personal care for certain. That is good. Fortunately DMIL had the resources to cover her share of the costs.
I share this information to show how the decisions made when LTC insurance benefits is needed might affect the overall financial picture. There are a lot of discussions on this site using "LTC Insurance" and it is often used as a general catch all term. Policies do vary as do their coverage/terms. They are not all the same. The decisions we make early on when choosing a policy can have less than anticipated coverage when the time comes.
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