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February 20, 2014 by Abe Glickman

Make Long-Term Care More Affordable

The Average cost of a private room in a nursing home is now about $248 per day (or about $90,000 per year), and 12 hours a day of home care costs even more, according to the MetLife Mature Market Institute. But for many baby-boomers, it takes more thatn the threat of financial catastrophe to be prodded into buying a long-term care insurance policy.

“If people have experience with family members needing care, they sign up immediately,” says Ted Sarenski, a CPA and personal financial specialist in Syracuse, N.Y. “But if they don’t, they worry that they are throwing their money away.”

Sarenski recommends to clients in their fifties that they have some form of long-term-care coverage to protect their retirement savings. Until recently, people who bought policies generally got enough insurance to cover 100% of the cost of care. But insurers boosted their rates after paying more money in claims than they expected. RAtes for new policies have shot up-especially for women buying their own-and it has become a lot more difficult to qualify for coverage if you have health issues.

Sarenski helps his clients calculate how much of their savings they can afford to spend on long-term-care costs and still keep enough money for the other spouse to live on, possibly for decades. Then he recommends buying enough coverage to fill the gap-usually at least half of the cost of care. Fortunately, insurers are offering new options that shift more reisk to you but make policies less costly.

Several major long-term-care insurers have switched from unisex to gender differentiated pricing. Genworth, the largest long-term-care insurer, announced the change in late 2012, and John Hancock, Transamerica and Mutual of Omaha quickly followed suit.

In many cases, single women-who tend to live longer than men and are more likely to need care-now pay about 50% more than single men, says Cloude Thau, a long-term-care insurance consultant in Overland Park, Kansas. The rate hikes haven’t’ been approved yet in some states, and few insurers still offer unisex rates, especially for polices sold through employers.

Most insurers continue to offer discounts for couples of about 30%, says Thau. For example, Genworth’s couples policies give women a big break. For healthy 55-year old buying a policy with a three-year benefit period and a $150 daily benefit, plus 5% inflation protection, the cost is $2,190 a year for a single man and $2,966 for single women. But the price drops to $1,4854 each if they buy as a couple.

Couples can also hedge their bets with a shared-benefit periods, you share a benefit pool-three years each becomes a poll of six years that can be split between the spouses. Genworth charges $2,187 per person for a coupld sharing a six-year benefit period-versus $1,854 each for a couple who buy separate three-year policies with a couples discount.

If you’re a single woman, consider a policy that combines long-term-care and life insurance. With a combo policy, rates won’t go up, and with you or your heirs are guaranteed a payout. For example, a 60-year old woman who invests $100,00 in Lincoln Financial’s MoneyGuard policy could get $6,627 in monthly long-term-care benefits for six years-totally $477,144. If she dies before needing care, her heirs will get a death benefit of $159,048. (Money she uses for long-term-care is subtracted from the death benefit.)

“Combination policies are a better deal for single women than they were in the past,” says John Ryan, of Ryan Insurance Strategy Consultants, in Greenwood Village, Colorado. He recommends getting quotes for both combo and stand-alone policies. You can buy a combo policy outright or pay for it over three years.

In the past, most policies automatically increased benefits by 5% compounded per year. But policies with 3% or CPI-adjusted inflation protection, which trims premiums, have become more popular. For example, a 50 year old woman who buys a John Hancock policy with a $150 daily benefit, a three year benefit period and a 90 day elimination period would pay $3,374 per year with 5% inflation protection, compared with $1,560 for a CPI-adjusted policy. A man would pay $2,174 per year for the 5% compound policy or $956 for one with a CPI adjustment.

Some insurers are offering policies with future purchase options, which cost less than traditional inflation adjusted policies to start out but don’t increase benefits automatically. Instead, you can boost your benefits every few years if you pay more.

When choosing an inflation option, don’t simply compare premiums. Calculate how much the pool of benefits will grow to by the time you’re likely to need care. A policy with a 3% inflation adjustment may not seem as good a deal when you see how much smaller the benefit pool will be when you’re 80.

Some states have partnership programs that let people who buy long-term care insurance keep more of their assets if they exhaust their long=term care policy benefits and have to rely on Medicaid. Some states require that policies have 5% compound inflation protection to qualify for the partnership program.

Insurers are also managing their risk by rejecting more people for health issuers and making it more difficult to qualify for the best rates. A study by the American Association for Long-Term Care Insurance found that 45%of people ages 50-59 qualified for good health discounts, but only 30% of people ages 60-69 qualified.

Health requirements vary from company to company. A long-term care specialist who works with many insurers can help you find the one that offers the best rates.

Filed Under: Uncategorized

February 20, 2014 by Abe Glickman

Retirement Q&A: Costs of Being a Caregiver

Why should the average person be concerned with caregiving?

-At some point in your life, you likely will be a caregiver or need a caregiver. The efforts of caregivers enable millions of Americans of all ages to survive in their own homes. Today there are an estimated 42 million family caregivers in America—about one out of every five adults—and pressure on family members is rue to rise as the Boomer generation gets older. Almost two-thirds of family caregivers are women, most often for an older parent or spouse. Caregivers are an invisible army, often toiling without recognition or support, and at great personal cost.

What kinds of tasks do family caregivers perform?

-Caregiving can mean anything from help with basic tasks of daily living, like bathing and cooking, to increasingly sophisticated medical support. Family caregivers may perform tasks such as managing multiple medications, caring for wounds, operating specialized equipment, and even administering injections and IVs. Often, family caregivers do these tasks on top of holding down a paid job. These unpaid caregivers are the backbone of our nation’s long-term system, providing services worth more than $450 billion a year.

What are the greatest challenges facing caregivers?

-Research shows that family caregivers often sacrifice wages, retirement security and even their health, as they attempt to juggle responsibilities at home and in the workplace. One study found that losses in wages, Social Security and pensions due to career disruptions can exceed $320,000. Yet, unless society provides greater support to caregivers, their challenges are only going to get worse. In 2010, there were more than seven potential caregivers for everyone age 80-plus. By 2030, the ratio is projected to decline to 4-1; and by mid-century it could fall below 3 to 1.

Filed Under: Uncategorized

July 30, 2013 by Abe Glickman

Tax Tips: Long Term Care Insurance

Tax Tips: Long Term Care Insurance

You may be able to deduct all or part of the Long Term Care insurance premiums you pay for yourself, your spouse, or a dependent, but only if your policy meets the IRS criteria for a qualified policy. If you bought the policy before January 1, 1997, and it met the requirements of the state where it was issued, it is automatically considered a qualified policy. If you bought the policy later, it must satisfy several requirements to be considered qualified.

First of all, the policy must provide coverage only for qualified long term care services. These include necessary diagnostic, preventive, therapeutic, curing, treating, mitigating, and rehabilitative services, as well as maintenance or personal care services that are required by a chronically ill individual, in connection with a plan prescribed by a licensed health-care practitioner. Also, your policy must satisfy the following conditions:

• It must be guaranteed renewable, meaning that you can renew your policy as needed without undergoing additional medical exams
• It must not have a cash surrender value or any provision that allows you to cash in, pledge, assign, or borrow against the policy, or receive anything more than a refund of premiums paid if you cancel the policy
• It must provide that any refunds and dividends (other than refunds upon termination of the policy) can be used only to reduce future premiums or increase future benefits
• It must not pay for (or reimburse) expenses that are reimbursable under Medicare, unless Medicare is a secondary payer, or unless the policy pays a specified amount per day regardless of actual expenses
• It must meet certain consumer protection requirements set out in the Internal Revenue Code
If your Long Term Care policy meets the conditions listed above, or if it was issued before January 1st, 1997, at the least part of your premium may be tax deductible as a medical expense. To qualify for a medical expense deduction, your unreimbursed medical expenses (including Long Term Care premiums) must exceed 7.5% of your adjusted gross income. Also, you must itemize your deductions.

Note: Starting in 2013, the threshold to deduct medical expenses will be raised from 7.5% of adjusted gross income to 10% the threshold increase will be delayed until 2017 for those age 65 or older.

The maximum amount of Long Term Care insurance premiums that you can deduct in a year depends on your age at the end of the year. In 2012, deduction limits (which are indexed each year for inflation) are as follows:

Age Limit on Deduction
40 or younger $350
41 to 50 $660
51 to 60 $1,310
61 to 70 $3,500
71 or older $4,370

A qualified Long Term Care insurance contract is treated as an accident and health insurance contract, and the benefits are typically treated as tax free. However, if your contract pays a set dollar amount per day (per diem), the tax-free treatment is subject to a certain limit, indexed annually for inflation. Benefits over and above this limit are generally considered taxable income.

Under this limit, the amount of your Long Term Care insurance benefits that is excluded from taxation in a given period is figured by subtracting any reimbursement received (through insurance or otherwise) for the cost of qualified long-term care services during the period from the larger of the following amounts:

• The actual cost of qualified Long Term Care services during the period
• The dollar amount for the period ($310 per day for any period in 2012)

Abe Glickman, LTCA, LTCP
Member: AALTCI, NAHU, NAIFA, SOA
Abe Glickman Insurance Group
Toll-Free Phone: 877-298-5824
Email: AG@AbeGlickman.com

“It is better to create a plan 10 years too soon than one day too late.”

Questions or Comments? Give me a call!

Filed Under: Long Term Care and Taxes Tagged With: Advocate, At Home, Caregiving Services, Caregiving services at home, Claims, Cost, Insurance, Long Term Care, Long Term Care Advocate, Long Term Care Agent, Long Term Care Basics, Long Term Care Claims, Long Term Care Services, Lont Term Care Insurance, LTC, Misconceptions, Prevent Nursing Homes

July 30, 2013 by Abe Glickman

Long Term Care Is A Women’s Issue…Or Is It?

Long Term Care Is A Women’s Issue…Or Is It?

Lately, the notion that Long Term Care is a women’s issue has been generating a lot of buzz, but the truth is, our industry has been tugging at this thread for years. In my possession are studies, statistics, articles and agent presentations dating back to 2007 and I’m certain I could dig deeper.

Statistics

Statics are the scaffolding upon which out Long Term Care house was built. I could choose from literally hundreds, but let’s cite just a few so we speak a common tongue:

• A healthy 65-year-old woman has a 67% chance of living to 90 and a 38% chance of living to 95. In general, women live about five years longer than men, and have 10 times the chance of reaching 85.
• 80% of Nursing Home admissions are women
• The average age at admission for these women is 82.
• At that age, most of these women are single. Women older than 75 are much less likely to be married than men (38%-74%).
• Women are confined 50% longer than men.
• 65% of all claims are paid to women.
• Women are more likely to suffer from Alzheimer’s (which is the claims leader in frequency, length and dollars).
• Women provide 60% to 75% of all informal (unpaid) care, which leads to depression, illness and loss of lifetime earnings and future Social Security benefits.

It’s an extremely challenging portrait, is it not? One LIMRA article suggests that women lag behind men in retirement planning for any number of reasons, including choice of more flexible career roles and lack of financial literacy (sigh) – as if financially literate men are knocking down doors for Long Term Care insurance.

Gender-Based Rates

Never have innocuous powder-blue and bubblegum-pink data points had such dire consequences as when plotting “gender-distinct pricing.” But the trends had become too obvious to ignore. Besides, as one actuary put it, “We’ve always had gender-based rates: We just blended them here in the home office before the ratebook reached the field.”

In other words, men have been subsidizing women for a long time. The companies depended on receiving and issuing a certain ratio of male-to-female applicants, and all was right with the world. But what if this decade-long “LTC is a women’s issue” campaign really took off? What if one company received an extraordinarily high number of female applicants? They are costlier claimants who don’t pay the premiums they should. Without enough men to balance them out, it could topple the ship.

Enter gender-based rates: men pay what men cost, and women pay that women cost. No longer does it matter how many men or women apple (and are issued). Neither can upset the balance of the ship. For this reason, gender-distinct pricing is said to provide greater protection against the need for potential rate increase.

It’s A Family Issue

In the end, of course, I’m not an actuary. It’s easy for me to read pop-culture articles and throw pot shots from the gallery. However, statistics only take us so far. I’d like to go beyond the numbers, or “beyond dollars” to use the expression Genworth coins in their landmark report.

I’d like to re-visit and enrich the original premise: Is Long Term Care a women’s issue?” Respectfully, I would suggest it is much more.

First, our language should evolve from that of the 1970’s. Rather than varying between “compartmentalized” and “holistic” psychobabble, we could speak directly by choosing language appealing to “primary earners” versus “caregivers” (regardless of sex). The former is concerned with keeping his or her financial commitments into retirement, while the latter relies on the income of the former to provide for the day-to-day needs of the family.

In both cases, a sales is impossible if love for others is not present.

Just as importantly, if you’ve ever provided care, then you know that Mom’s extended care is not her “issue” alone. It cuts a swath through the family like a tornado cutting through a small town. It sweeps to Dad. It becomes Daughter’s issue and Son’s issue. Siblings who don’t actively participate in the caregiving or the funding still participates by stirring up resentment that lingers for years and helps to rip the family apart. Caregivers miss time with their own families – spouses and children of any age. (“Beyond Dollars” identifies them as secondary and tertiary caregivers).

So you see, our premise falls to live up to the hype. Long Term Care is not a women’s issue – it’s an everybody issue. Extended care impacts everyone. Not only has this been true in the past, but it will become more pronounced as longevity between the genders equalizes. Our messaging must reflect this reality or risk alienating significant markets.

Abe Glickman, LTCA, LTCP
Member: AALTCI, NAHU, NAIFA, SOA
Abe Glickman Insurance Group
Toll-Free Phone: 877-298-5824
Email: AG@AbeGlickman.com

“It is better to create a plan 10 years too soon than one day too late.”

Questions or Comments? Give me a call!

Filed Under: Women and Long Term Care Tagged With: Advocate, At Home, Caregiving Services, Caregiving services at home, Claims, Cost, Insurance, Long Term Care, Long Term Care Advocate, Long Term Care Agent, Long Term Care Basics, Long Term Care Insurance, Long Term Care Insurance Help, Long Term Care Services, Lont Term Care Insurance, LTC, LTC Advocate, LTC Agent, LTCi, Prevent Nursing Homes

July 30, 2013 by Abe Glickman

Dementia: The Journey Ahead

Dementia: The Journey Ahead

This is a very moving story; but sadly in life we lose some of those we love, not from Dementia, or Alzheimer’s, but issues of non-importance. I think this man has it right. Five years is a very long time as we older and his commitment to knowing her says it all.

It was a busy morning, about 8:30am, when an elderly gentleman in his 80’s arrived at the hospital to have stiches removed from his thumb. He said he was in a hurry as he had an appointment at 9:00am. The nurse took his vital signs and had him take a seat, knowing it would be over an hour before someone would be able to see him.

I saw him looking at his watch and decided, since I was not busy with another patient, I would evaluate his wound. On exam, it was well healed. I spoke to one of the other doctors, got the needed supplies to remove his sutures, and redress his wound.

While taking care of his wound, I asked him if he had another doctor’s appointment this morning as he was in such a hurry. The gentleman told me no, that he needed to go to the nursing home to breakfast with his wife. As I inquired as to her health, he told me that she had been there for a while and that she was a victim of Alzheimer’s Disease.

As we talked, I asked if she would be upset if he was a bit late. He replied that she no longer knew who he was, that she had not recognized him in five years now. I was surprised, and asked him, “And you still go every morning…even though she doesn’t know who you are?” He smiled as he patted my hand and said, “She doesn’t know me, but I still know who she is.”

Abe Glickman, LTCA, LTCP
Member: AALTCI, NAHU, NAIFA, SOA
Abe Glickman Insurance Group
Toll-Free Phone: 877-298-5824
Email: AG@AbeGlickman.com

“It is better to create a plan 10 years too soon than one day too late.”

Questions or Comments? Give me a call!

Filed Under: Aging Gracefully Tagged With: Advocate, At Home, Caregiving Services, Caregiving services at home, Cost, Long Term Care, Long Term Care Advocate, Long Term Care Agent, Long Term Care Insurance Help, Long Term Care Services, Lont Term Care Insurance, LTC, LTC Advocate, LTC Agent, LTCi, Prevent Nursing Homes

July 26, 2013 by Abe Glickman

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Filed Under: Uncategorized

April 8, 2013 by Abe Glickman

Long Term Care Policies Will Soon Cost More For Women

Long Term Care Policies Will Soon Cost More For Women

The gender gap is about to get a little wider as the formerly egalitarian Long Term Care insurance market starts charging higher prices for women.

While life insurance has long been priced by sex, companies that provide Long Term care insurance (LTCI), mainly used to cover healthcare expenses in old age or for severe illness, have long avoided it. But for the first time this year, they will introduce gender-based pricing, starting with policies from Genworth Financial, Inc. the nations largest seller.

The aim is to reflect actuarial realities – women live longer and prepare ahead more for their futures by buying policies. Genworth says two-thirds of it’s LTCI claim payouts go to female customers, and overall, women account for 57 percent of all policy sales in 2011, according to data from LIMRA, the insurance research and consulting group.

Genworth will introduce gender-specified policy pricing by this spring, if the plan passes regulatory hurdles. That will boost the cost of new policies for women by 20 to 40 percent, depending on the applicant’s age and benefit package, according to the American Association for Long Term care Insurance (AALTCI).

Industry experts expect gender-based pricing will be adopted by other carriers before the end of this year – both for individuals and married couples.

Gender-based pricing is the latest stopgap measure for an industry that already is struggling. The ultra-low interest rate environment has made it difficult for the insurance companies to earn enough on their fixed income portfolios to fund benefits.

Another challenge for insurance companies, ironically, is customer loyalty. Only about 3 percent of policyholders allow their coverage to lapse. It’s a smart consumer move to hold onto policies, but it is costly for carriers, who ultimately wind up paying more claims.

Also, the stressed Medicaid system is the nation’s largest insurer, which puts stress on federal and state budgets. Outside of that, family members are the most common source of care.

So, what can women do to get the lowest rates possible in this new environment?

1. Get Started Now – If you have been thinking of buying Long Term care insurance, this would be a great time to get going. Genworth is applying now for gender-based rate increases to individual state insurance regulators.
2. Apply As A Couple – If you are married, applying as a couple will keep your cost down. Genworth and the rest of the industry apply discounts for couples who apply for coverage together.
3. Ask Questions – To find out more information about this article and to get informed on Long Term Care basics, give me a call.

Abe Glickman, LTCA, LTCP
Member: AALTCI, NAHU, NAIFA, SOA
Abe Glickman Insurance Group
Toll-Free Phone: 877-298-5824
Email: AG@AbeGlickman.com

“It is better to create a plan 10 years too soon than one day too late.”

Questions or Comments? Give me a call!

Filed Under: What is the Cost of LTC Tagged With: Advocate, At Home, Caregiving Services, Caregiving services at home, Cost, Long Term Care, Long Term Care Advocate, Long Term Care Agent, Long Term Care Basics, Long Term Care Insurance, Long Term Care Insurance Help, Long Term Care Services, Lont Term Care Insurance, LTC, LTC Advocate, LTC Agent, LTCi, Prevent Nursing Homes

March 6, 2013 by Abe Glickman

The Importanace of Long Term Care In Retirement Planning

The Importance of Long Term Care In Retirement Planning

People planning for retirement typically know where they’ll get the money to pay for living expenses and many of the extra things they want to so. But all too often, they fail to plan for long term care expenses. And that can be a costly mistake.

Long term care services are expensive. Based on Mutual of Omaha’s Cost-of-Care Survey, the nationals average cost for one year of nursing home care in a semi-private room is $86,662.00. And that’s just for one person. If both husband and wife need long term care services, a retirement nest egg can be depleted quickly.

So how do people plan to pay for the care they need? Some mistakenly believe their health insurance will cover their long term care expenses. Others plan to let the government take care of them. In reality, health insurance doesn’t cover long term care. And the coverage provided by government programs is limited. For example, Medicare provides some short term coverage simply to help people get back on their feet after an accident or illness. And while Medicaid does pay for long term care services (typically nursing home care), it only pays for people who have no other resources. And for many people, that means spending down assets to qualify.

That leaves two alternatives: Pay for long term care services using retirement assets or protect retirement savings with a long term care insurance policy.

Planning to pay the cost of long term care services out of pocket may seem reasonable. But many people fail to think about the real cost associated with that plan. First, assets may have to be liquidated, which could mean cashing in stocks, selling property or dipping into 401(k) or savings accounts. In addition, liquidating assets may trigger additional costs in the form of capital gains tax, income tax and potential surrender charges. It also has the potential to deplete the inheritance planned for family members.

Purchasing a long term care insurance policy may be the best way to help peole make their retirement assets last as long as possible. For a fraction of the cost they would pay to a nursing home, assisted facility or home health care provider, they can purchase a policy to help pay those bills while protecting a significant portion of their retirement fund.

With all the retirement planning options available, it’s important to remember one thing…people need enough retirement income to cover their expenses. And putting a plan in place to pay for long term care expenses using a long term care insurance policy can be a smart way to make retirement income last longer.

Abe Glickman, LTCA, LTCP
Member: AALTCI, NAHU, NAIFA, SOA
Abe Glickman Insurance Group
Toll-Free Phone: 877-298-5824
Email: AG@AbeGlickman.com

“It is better to create a plan 10 years too soon than one day too late.”

Questions or Comments? Give me a call!

Filed Under: Do I need LTC Tagged With: Advocate, Caregiving services at home, Cost, Long Term Care, Long Term Care Advocate, Long Term Care Agent, Long Term Care Basics, Long Term Care Claims, Long Term Care Insurance Help, Long Term Care Services, Lont Term Care Insurance, LTC, LTC Advocate, LTC Agent, LTCi, Prevent Nursing Homes

February 5, 2013 by Abe Glickman

5 Reasons You Should Consider Long Term Care Insurance For You And Your Family

5 Reasons You Should Consider Long-Term Care Insurance for You and Your Family

Professionals who study risk management say that individuals have several choices when dealing with risk. The choices include: 1) Avoiding Risk; 2) Retaining the Risk; or 3) Transferring the Risk

When it comes to the issue of Long-Term Care, people may avoid the risk because they don’t understand the potential for needing services. They may choose to retain the risk because they don’t understand the potentially high cost of care. Or they may transfer the risk as part of a carefully considered retirement and financial plan. Each person’s decision-making process is driven by different concerns and priorities. Here are reasons you should consider transferring the risk of a Long-Term Care experience through the purchase of Long-Term Care Insurance.

Economics
Protecting Your Assets
In the absence of other resources such as insurance, it may be necessary to pay for Long-Term Care expenses out of pocket. This could involve selling off assets, borrowing from an investment or retirement account, or even taking a loan against your life insurance. These options, although possible, are probably not what you had in mind when you purchased life insurance or began saving for your future. Long-Term Care Insurance may be an affordable way to help protect a much larger portion of your financial and retirement plan against an unexpected need for care.

Control
Having Your Own Way
A bottom-line issue in Long-Term Care is control. If you someday need Long-Term Care Services, you may find that you are not in a position to control how the funding of those costs is to be handled. Would you object if your family decided to liquidate some assets or sell something you value, such as a cherished collection, antiques, or vacation home? If you were to become incapacitated, you might not have a say in the matter.

By insuring part of the risk you increase the possibility that your assets will be handled and distributed according to your wishes.

Another important element of control is deciding where care will be provided. Long-Term Care Services may be provided in any number of setting including your home, an assisted care living facility, adult day care, or nursing facility. Being able to decide where you wish to receive care often tied to your financial resources at the time of need.

Risk Management Logic
Most people have homeowners and auto insurance, but if you scratched the paint on your car or a neighborhood kid threw a baseball through your window, you might pay those expenses without filing a claim because the cost is manageable. You have the insurance anyways, though, because you believe it’s just a good idea. If something major happened to your car or your home, you would be protected.

The need for Long-Term Care Services may have a much bigger effect on your finances than a scratched car or a broken window. Long-Term Care Insurance is a lot like your homeowner’s or auto coverage – you hope you never need to use it, but if you do, you will be glad the protection is there.

Quality of Care
The Privilege of Choosing Your Caregiver
Most people agree that the preferred place to receive quality care is the privacy and comfort of your home. However, depending on the type of care you receive, home car may be just as expensive as care received in a facility. By insuring for Long-Term Care Risk, you may be assured that care expenses will be less of a concern when receiving the best home care available. Having additional resources that care expenses will be less of a concern when receiving the best home care available. Having additional resource to pay for home care may also make the difference between staying at home and having to relocate to a care facility. Should institutional care better fit your needs, you may have funds on hand to pay for the facility you prefer, rather than one you afford.

Family Consideration
Stressful Decisions
An unexpected need for Long-Term care Services may create stress for family members confronted with issues of care giving. Caregiving may take a physical toll on family members who may have to help bathing, dressing, and other tasks associated with custodial care. It can also have a financial impact on family caregivers who have to miss time from work, change from full-time to part-time employment, or even leave their job completely. Finally, caregiving may have an emotional impact on family members having to take care of Mom and/or dad – Someone whom they have always seen as strong and in control. Physical and mental illness sometimes brings an unexpected role-reversal to the parent-child relationship.

An option worth considering…Long-Term Care Insurance helps with these considerations by providing benefits and resources to help you and your family understand the options and determine the best source of care. Long-Term Care Insurance provides options that you and your family may not know about or may not otherwise have the money to consider.

Abe Glickman, LTCA, LTCP
Member: AALTCI, NAHU, NAIFA, SOA
Abe Glickman Insurance Group
Toll-Free Phone: 877-298-5824
Email: AG@AbeGlickman.com

“It is better to create a plan 10 years too soon than one day too late.”

Questions or Comments? Give me a call!

Filed Under: Do I need LTC Tagged With: At Home, Caregiving Services, Caregiving services at home, Insurance, Long Term Care, Long Term Care Advocate, Long Term Care Agent, Long Term Care Basics, Long Term Care Insurance, Long Term Care Insurance Help, Lont Term Care Insurance, LTC, LTC Agent, LTCi, Prevent Nursing Homes

January 7, 2013 by Abe Glickman

Not Having A Plan Is Planning For Faliure

Not Having A Plan Is Planning For Failure

1. Planning for Long Term Care Is Important  Most people will tell you they plan to live a long life. But with aging comes the need for help with some of the things they always did for themselves. According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 70% of people who reach age 65 will need Long Term care services at some point in their lives.
2. Long Term Care Services Are Expensive  Mutual of Omaha’s cost-of-care survey revealed that just one year in a nursing home can cost more than $96,000 (based on national averages). Home Health Care is less expensive, but people still can expect to pay as much as $56,000-$70,000 per year for care they received in their own home.
3. You Can’t Rely On Health Insurance or Medicare  Many people mistakenly believe their Long Term care needs are already covered. In reality, health insurance doesn’t cover Long Term Care services. And Medicare only covers services for a short time – typically just long enough to help people get back on their feet after an illness or injury.
4. Medicaid Isn’t For Everyone  It’s true. Medicaid doesn’t cover Long Term care services. But it’s important to remember that Medicaid is a program for people with low incomes and limited resources. That may mean you would have to spend down your assets just to qualify. Not an attractive option for people who want to protect the assets they have worked a lifetime to accumulate and leave a legacy for their children.
5. There’s A Hidden Cost To Family Caregivers  It’s easy to say, “My family will take care of me.” But a spouse may not be physically able to provide all the care that’s needed. And children have their own family and career obligations. The fact is family caregivers frequently suffer from stress and illness themselves. Not to mention lost wages if they have to give up a job or reduce their work hours.
6. The Best Time To Start Planning Is Now  How will you pay for the care you need? Where will you live? Who will take care of you? These are questions people need to ask themselves now while they’re young and in good health. The need for Long Term care services can arise at any time. Having a plan in place when that day comes can help alleviate the emotional strain many families face. It also can help ensure you get to make the important decisions about the care you receive and the setting you prefer.
7. The Cost Of Waiting Can Be High  The ability to obtain a Long Term Care Insurance policy is based on age and good health. So it’s important for you to understand that if something happens to cause a change in health status, you may not be able to purchase Long Term care Insurance at any price.
8. Some Coverage Is Better Than None  Many people who think they can’t afford a Long Term care Insurance policy neglect to consider what would happen if they didn’t have one. Without a policy to help pay the bills for Long Term Care services, you may have to liquidate assets, sell stocks, dip into savings or retirement accounts or sell property to come up with the cash you need. Even a modest Long Term care Insurance policy offers some protection for your important assets.

Abe Glickman, LTCA, LTCP
Member: AALTCI, NAHU, NAIFA, SOA
Abe Glickman Insurance Group
Toll-Free Phone: 877-298-5824
Email: AG@AbeGlickman.com

“It is better to create a plan 10 years too soon than one day too late.”

Questions or Comments? Give me a call!

Filed Under: Do I need LTC Tagged With: Caregiving services at home, Claims, Cost, Long Term Care, Long Term Care Advocate, Long Term Care Agent, Long Term Care Basics, Long Term Care Claims, Long Term Care Insurance, Long Term Care Insurance Help, Long Term Care Services, Lont Term Care Insurance, LTC, LTC Advocate, LTC Agent, LTCi, Prevent Nursing Homes

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Abe Glickman, LTCA, LTCP
Member: AALTCI, NAHU, NAIFA, SOA
Abe Glickman Insurance Group
Toll-Free Phone: 877-298-5824
Email: AG@AbeGlickman.com
“It is better to create a plan 10 years too soon than one day too late.”
Questions or Comments? Give me a call!

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