The Time is Now for Long Term Care Insurance

The Time is Now for Long Term Care Insurance
What is Long Term Care Insurance and why do you need to care about it? That's a great question. Long-term Care,(LTC)goes beyond medical and nursing care to include all the assistance you could need if you were to ever have a chronic illness or disability that would leave you unable to care for yourself for an extended period of time.
LTC is considered custodial care,(like help with feeding or dressing), even if there’s some health care given. Medicare does not cover this kind of care, which can be and is often given in your own home or in different settings. The need for long term care services start when a person cannot perform two of the “activities of daily living.” Activities of Daily Living, (ADL), include when one is cognitively impaired because of senility, dementia or Alzheimer’s disease. Most commonly the ADLs used to determine the need for services include needing assistance with two or more ADLs i.e. bathing, dressing, transferring (getting from a bed to a chair), toileting, eating, and continence.

Who needs Long Term Care? As you would imagine, older people tend to use long-term care services the most. Although younger and middle-aged people who has been in an accident or suffered a debilitating illness may also need LTC. Recent studies have shown long term care insurance to truly be an emerging women’s issue. The insurance experts at Genworth Financial published this excerpt in an Oct 2011 financial planning guide:
” Long term care is truly a women’s issue. Although men and women can both require long term care services, women are more heavily impacted on two sides of the issue. Women not only provide, but also receive, the majority of long term care services. When it comes to a relative or family member’s need for professional long term care services, women are usually the primary decision makers. We believe having a strategy for long term care can be an important part of your retirement planning needs. It can help protect the savings and assets you have worked so hard to accumulate.”
As stated earlier, you can receive long term care in a various places like nursing homes, assisted-living facilities, or in your own home. Besides nursing homes, there are a range of services available in the community to help meet long term care needs.
Generally, long term care is not covered by the health insurance you may have either on your own or through your employer, nor will Medicare or Medicaid cover these cost. Usually, the people who need the care, pay the bills. Individuals and their families pay about one-fourth of all nursing home costs out-of-pocket. When this happens, long-term care insurance is a good option to have! The emotional impact that the family experiences can be "devastating. Families that have accumulated a large amount of assets but do not want to use them to pay for long-term care may need to consider buying a long-term care insurance policy. Many people buy a policy because they want to be independent of government aid or the help of family. They don’t want to burden anyone with having to care for them.
Many people that I’ve spoken to often ask me” What are Long-Term Care Hospitals? I am providing the following article from the Dept of Health & Human Services USA for your personal review:
What are Long-Term Care Hospitals?
Most people who need inpatient hospital services are admitted to an “acute care” hospital for a relatively short stay. But some people may need a longer hospital stay. Long-term care hospitals (LTCHs) are certified as acute care hospitals, but LTCHs focus on patients who, on average, stay more than 25 days. Many of the patients in LTCHs are transferred there from an intensive or critical care unit. LTCHs specialize in treating patients who may have more than one serious condition, but who may improve with time and care, and return home. Services provided in LTCHs typically include comprehensive rehabilitation, respiratory therapy, head trauma treatment, and pain management. I’ve heard a lot about “long-term care.” Is this the kind of care that long-term care hospitals give? No. Long-term care usually refers to care that’s basically custodial (like help with feeding or dressing), even if there’s some health care given. Medicare doesn’t cover this kind of care, which can be given in your own home or in various kinds of facilities (like assisted living facilities). LTCHs are hospitals that give inpatient Services to people who need a much longer stay to get well.
★★★ CENTERS FOR MEDICARE & MEDICAID SERVICES
Do I pay more in a LTCH than in an acute care hospital? Generally, no. Under Medicare, you’re only responsible for one deductible for any benefit period. A benefit period begins the day you’re admitted to a hospital or skilled nursing facility (SNF), and ends when you haven’t gotten any inpatient care in a hospital or SNF for 60 days in a row. This applies whether you’re in an acute care hospital or a LTCH. You don’t have to pay a second deductible for your care in a LTCH if:
•You’re transferred to a LTCH directly from an acute care hospital.
•You’re admitted to a LTCH within 60 days of being discharged from an inpatient hospital stay. On the other hand, if you’re admitted directly to the LTCH more than 60 days after any previous hospital stay, you would pay the same deductibles and coinsurance as you would if you were being admitted to an acute care hospital. Note:
If you have Original Medicare and a Medicare Supplement Insurance policy. For more information about Medicare, visit www.medicare.gov, or call 1-800-MEDICARE (1-800-633-4227). TTY users should call 1-877-486-2048. ★ CMS Publication No. 11347 Revised September
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Knox