LTC insurance

[FreeBear]

Looks to me like the average is far less than 4 years. Few make it to three.

Nice histogram REWahoo! Much more useful than discussion of "average". I'm still a bit of an engineer, even now in FIRE!

Thanks!
FB

 

[FreeBear]

we took a nys partnership plan . we really did not care about the 3 years nursing home coverage or the 6 years assisted living or homecare .

What states have such nice LTC "partnership" plans? I know IL is considering one, but asset protection scales with dollars already paid into LTC insurance, to my understanding. I'd consider paying something for blanket asset protection, otherwise it's not so appealing, especially with all the issues often mentioned here.

 

[meierlde]

we took a nys partnership plan . we really did not care about the 3 years nursing home coverage or the 6 years assisted living or homecare .

we wanted it for the perks after the insurance runs out . we have 100% total asset protection with no look backs , trust's needed or asset shifting .

we have no income restrictions on the stay at home spouse which is very important .

as long as the private home we are in will accept Medicaid assignment after the insurance runs out Medicaid picks up the tab .

most private homes we spoke to said no problem if you were a paying patient for 3 years .


that is a sweet deal .

for a small percentage of the gains on our assets we can have great protection for those assets .

my dad spent 6 years in a nursing home which left his wife impoverished . so this is an important area of concern for us.

insurers were having trouble pricing policy's because statistics showed low usage but it turns out the numbers were very skewed and based on a generation ago . there is a whole lot more spending on ltc issues going on than insurers realized .

the biggest 2 issues were in 1999 Medicaid slashed the skilled nursing facility budget in half . instead of snf being used in many cases kind of half way house facility's were used and they did not count as snf usage .

folks today live longer , have 2x the number of potential people growing older and are less likely to dump long term care needs on family's .

i can tell you with my dad there was no way anyone of us could have taken care of him in our home .

usually by the time snf is needed it is well beyond family .

how it typically plays out is a family member gets hurt trying to move 200 lbs of limp flesh if they are moving someone paralyzed from a stroke and they are both in trouble or the person becomes violent with memory issues and someone gets hurt ...

the best way to bust up a family is have one sibling step up to the plate and take in a parent who needs care . odds are the other siblings step back and the battles begin .

usually the person providing the care takes a monetary hit , a career hit , a social hit and maybe even loses a job .

if you have a spouse odds are you can kiss that marriage good bye once the spouse starts on why do we have to do it and sacrifice so much and your brothers and sisters do nothing .


one of the worst things parents can do to their kids is drop their long term care burden on their children .

so today , those who buy policy's tend to use those policy's and that blew insurer's estimates out of the water .

so keep in mind if they are having trouble because usage is far more frequent and more costly then they thought how does that leave you ?

Note that even 12 years ago the nursing home by mother was in had a patient lift, they put a sling under her and the crane lifed her up. No more human lifting involved (might have had to roll her over but not lift). I would suspect most facilities have these because otherwise the workmans comp would be extremely high.

 

[Chuckanut]

Looks to me like the average is far less than 4 years. Few make it to three.

Thanks for posting that. I reinforces my thoughts that what I really need is a plan that kicks in after six to twelve months. By then the cost should be inexpensive since most people won't make it to 6 months much less 12 months.

 

[mathjak107]

What states have such nice LTC "partnership" plans? I know IL is considering one, but asset protection scales with dollars already paid into LTC insurance, to my understanding. I'd consider paying something for blanket asset protection, otherwise it's not so appealing, especially with all the issues often mentioned here.

we do in new York. we have the new York state total asset plan .

 

[mathjak107]

I agree. I picked DH up more times than I could count but he weighed less than I did (was wasting away from leukemia) and I was in decent physical condition. The last few weeks he couldn't move independently without a huge risk of falling- I had to get him from the bed to the wheel chair or commode, etc. At least he stayed sweet and mellow to the end. We were both grateful that the nightmare scenario you described- one partner's assets drained due the cost of the other's care for Alzheimer's- never happened.



This. When I'm older I'll find a good assisted living or continuing care facility near DS and DDIL but I will not expect them to take on 100% of my care.

The "ring fence" estimate posted earlier is a good way to look at funding your own LTC. In my case, I'll get $3,500/month from SS if I wait till age 70 and income form my investments (and principal if necessary) will make up the rest.

at 120-140k a year here in the tristate area plus the support of the stay at home spouse needed , self insuring is not something we would even attempt

 

[athena53]

at 120-140k a year here in the tristate area plus the support of the stay at home spouse needed , self insuring is not something we would even attempt

I agree it's a lot trickier with 2 people and, having lived in NJ for 25 years, I sure wouldn't want to fund LTC there. It's far simpler with just me to worry about now and I have no plans to remarry.

I just hope the insurance companies involved in the "partnership plans" stay solvent. No one has been able to answer a question I posed in an earlier discussion on this about who gets left holding the bag if the LTC company fails.

 

[mathjak107]

the states insurance board just merge them. we had our health insurance company go bankrupt last year . it was basically a non event for us .

 

[samclem]

Thanks for posting that. I reinforces my thoughts that what I really need is a plan that kicks in after six to twelve months. By then the cost should be inexpensive since most people won't make it to 6 months much less 12 months.

You'd think so. But we haven't turned up any insurers that sell LTCI polices with very long elimination periods (e.g 12 months or more).