Friday, April 10, 2015

Forbes: Boomers, Millennials And The Long-Term Care Divide


This article in Forbes talks about the need for Long Term Health Care Planning. Keep in mind, has with many articles, this article is general. Overall premium costs are usually lower than what the article indicates. For example, a married 55 year-old male in good health can get a solid partnership plan for as little as $92 a month. A single person would pay a bit more.


Planning for the physical, emotional and financial burdens Long Term Health Care is an important part of retirement planning. Planning needs to be done when you are younger and healthy as you will have many more affordable options. Premiums for Long Term Care Insurance are based on AGE and HEALTH at the time of application and are very affordable. While the article talks about the increases for new plans many companies did not change their rates so the article is a bit misleading. Premium increases on existing plans did happen but primarily on much older plans that were sold prior to rate stabilization and much better underwriting standards. With the risk of needing care being as high as it is, Long Term Care Insurance seems like common sense.

The risk of needing care is high with the advances in medical science allowing us to live longer and survive health events and accidents more than ever before. People require Long Term Health Care due to accidents, illnesses or the impact of aging. The US Department of Health and Human Services says if you reach the age of 65 you will have a 75% chance of needing some form a Long Term Health Care before you pass away.

Many states have partnership programs available which provide dollar for dollar asset protection if you have a qualified policy. The Long-Term Care Partnership Program is a collaboration between state government and insurance companies. Under this partnership, applicants who purchase qualifying long-term care insurance policies can access Medicaid coverage while retaining assets they would normally be required to spend on their long-term care. This is referred to as dollar for dollar asset protection.

Premiums are very affordable if designed appropriately by a specialist who understand how these plans work. The American Association for Long Term Care Insurance suggests consumers only work with specialists who represent all the top insurance companies and have at least 500 active clients in Long Term Care Insurance. Few insurance agents or financial advisors have this level of experience. In my case I have well over 2100 active clients throughout the country with over 16 years of experience. Please remember, a specialist like myself not only represents all the top insurance companies but also understands how these plans get used at the time of claim.

Read the article and learn more at http://mccannltc.net/
 

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