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One of the biggest obstacles that consumers face when it comes to long term care is the mental picture of where that care will take place.

Most are quite shocked to find out that in many cases the care is provided at home.

The only problem is that most people do not realize that the burden of care usually is put upon a loved one such as a spouse or child.

You have a couple of options when considering your long term care and how you pay for it.

We will discuss common long term care insurance questions, the costs and your options to help you make the best decision for your future care.

What Is Long-Term Care?

Long-term care is assistance people need when they no longer can care for themselves.

This may be due to an accident, disability, prolonged illness or the simple process of aging.

Long-term care services include:

Help at home with day-to-day activities, such as cooking, cleaning, bathing and dressing.

Care in the community, such as in an adult day care facility.

Supervised care provided in an assisted living facility.

Long-term care insurance can help pay for the services you need in a setting that’s right for you.

What do long-term care services cost?

Long-term care services can be expensive, and costs vary widely based on where you live.

Nationally:

The average daily rate for a private room in a nursing home is $203, or $74,095 per year.

The average daily rate for a semi-private room in a nursing home is $176, or $64,240 per year.

The average hourly rate for a home health aide is $19.

The average hourly rate for a homemaker/companion is $17.

Source: The MetLife Market Survey of Nursing Home & Home Care Costs. September 2005, MetLife Mature Market Institute

How will I pay for long-term care services?

You have a variety of options when it comes to paying for the long-term care services you need.

Here are some options to pay for your long term care services:

You can pay for these services out of your own pocket and risk depleting a lifetime of savings.

You can apply for Medicaid, but you will be required to spend down your assets to meet federal and state requirements in order to be eligible.

You can purchase an individual long-term care insurance policy.

Will my Health Insurance or Medicare pay the bills?

Many people are surprised to learn that most health insurance policies, including Medicare and Medicare Supplements, do not cover most long-term care costs.

Medicare will not pay for assisted living care and only a limited amount for skilled home care, which is not the ongoing personal assistance most people need.

Medicare only pays about 12% of costs for short-term care in a nursing home following hospitalization.

The sooner you begin planning for your long-term care needs, the better.

If your health changes or you’re in an accident, you could become uninsurable.​

And, because premiums are based on your age when you apply, the sooner you act, the lower your premiums.

How can I afford a Long Term Care policy?

I can’t afford a $10,000 a year premium!  

This statement is more based on myths than facts.

Most people do not pay anywhere close to this amount for a long term care policy.

Is it possible?

Yes!

A person who waits until they are age 80 and has multiple health conditions could very well end up paying a premium like that.

It is for this very reason that we advise our clients on purchasing their coverage as soon as possible.

In addition there are certain riders that are better suited for some people but not for others.

Your long term care plan should be custom tailored for you….and that is exactly what we do.

Take Action! 

The simple truth is that every day you wait, you remain unprotected, you risk becoming uninsurable and the cost of coverage will cost more.

Long-term care insurance can help protect your assets and also preserve your freedom of choice – the choice to remain independent, not burden family or friends with your care – and a choice to keep a lifetime of savings intact for the things you really want to do.

Request a free long-term care quote with Senior Benefit Services today!

As you get older and life insurance premiums increase the question of whether Senior Life Insurance Plans makes sense for you can be a bit murky.

Here’s the great thing about Senior Life Insurance Plans…

They work the same as traditional life insurance so if you have some familiarity with end of life insurance than there won’t be a big learning curve like Medicare or Medicare Supplement Plans.

Regardless if you have any experience with life insurance, we will review the main senior life insurance plans available to you in 2019.

Retirees Life Insurance Portfolio

There are two schools of thought when it comes to a retirees life insurance portfolio:

1. 1You don’t need much. This school of thought usually goes back to the philosophy that you were insured by a term life insurance plan and invested heavily.  Since you are now at an age when your biggest financial burdens have passed (ie. children are grown, home is paid for, concern of premature death) there is no longer a need for large life insurance policies.  In essence you have invested well and you have not only enough money to fund your retirement years (including your spouse), but also cover any estate taxes that your heirs will incur.
2. 2You need enough to make sure your wishes are carried out. This school of thought is what our advisers follow!  Each person not only has a different financial makeup, but they each have different goals.  Let us listen to what you want and then we can help you reach your goals.

What kind of life insurance is right for you?

Traditional Whole Life

This plan is usually paid for the life of the policy.

Whole life insurance provides the fixed guarantees that the benefit will be paid upon your death to a loved one or even a non-profit organization such as your place of worship.

These plans are typically not affected by changes in the market interest rates.

There are certain limited pay options on life insurance plans.

The most popular are 10 and 20 years.

While these plans are more expensive, they do allow you to set a maximum time period that you wish to pay on the premiums.

Universal Life

This type of plan does enjoy some of the same benefits or a whole life policy, but it is usually tied to a projected interest rate that can fluctuate quite dramatically over the life of the policy.

While sometimes this can cause a negative effect, it can also bring about a positive growth of cash value.

If the interest rates being paid on a universal life policy were to drop and remain at levels below the projected amount, the policy could deplete all of it’s cash value.

This in turn would cause the consumer to decide whether to pay a higher premium to keep the policy active or even possibly choose to end it due to affordability.

You may have heard an agent use a phrase such as “the cash value bottomed out”, which describes this exact situation.

Many people have been caught in this exact situation from policies they purchased in the late 80’s and into the 90’s.

The problem began with the amount of interest that was being projected on the consumer proposals.

It was not uncommon for someone purchase a universal life plan with an 8% projected interest rate.

While the consumer may have received an 8% interest rate credited to their cash value for maybe 3 or even 5 years, those rates eventually began to shrink.

This is what eventually led to many policies running out of cash value.

In today’s market it is extremely important to use conservative projections on a universal life plan.

Many plans now have a guarantee that will have the policy last to age 100 (some even longer) as long as the policyholder pays the set premium (target premium) and does not miss a payment.

This guarantee remains in place even if  the cash value runs out.

Term Life

This type of plan usually builds no cash value and has a limited life.

Most people use term life to cover paying off a debt if a pre-mature death were to occur.

An example would be an individual who decided to take out a $100,000 home equity loan with a 15 year repayment schedule.

The least expensive way to cover this loan if death were to occur before the 15 year period were up would be to purchase a $100,000 (15 year term life ) policy.

Variable Universal Life

This type of plan has it’s cash value tied directly to a mutual fund or family of funds.

Senior Benefit Services, Inc. does not offer this type of plan at this time.

Take Action!

Request a free life insurance quote with Senior Benefit Services today!

Many consumers purchase Hospital Indemnity Plans to help offset the hospital co-pays of their Health Insurance Plans such as Medicare. 

Many consumers purchase Hospital Indemnity Plans to help offset the hospital co-pays of their Health Insurance Plans such as Medicare. 

Some of the better plans include daily hospital , ambulance, skilled nursing, durable medical equipment, lump sum cancer, and surgical benefits.

Health insurance does not cover all of the costs associated with injuries or illnesses.

In addition to deductibles and coinsurance, consumers may have extra expenses such as private room and private duty nursing fees, transportation, lawn and house care, and pet care.

Hospital Indemnity insurance pays cash benefits directly to the policyholder, regardless of any other insurance they may have.

Most Frequently Asked Hospital Indemnity Plan Question:

“If I have a Medicare Advantage Plan, a Group Health Plan, or even a High Deductible Medicare Supplement Plan, why would I need an additional plan such as this?”

The easiest way to explain this is with an example of a 65 year old consumer who has purchased a health insurance plan that has a hospital co-pay of $100 per day for the first 7 days (or a plan that has a $700 deductible) that the consumer is responsible for paying.

If this individual were to go into the hospital for a 10 day stay, they would be responsible for paying $700 in co-pays or deductible.

In addition, we are going to assume that this person was taken to the hospital by ambulance.

Using a very conservative co-pay, we will say that the health insurance plan that the consumer purchased has only a $50 co-pay for ambulance trips (many of the plans have ambulance co-pays that range from $100-$150 per trip).

Currently this consumer is now up to $750 in co-pays that they are responsible for.

This same consumer could purchase a hospital indemnity plan with an ambulance rider that would pay $100 per day in the hospital and $200 per ambulance trip for less than $15 per month.

This plan would have paid on this particular plan $700 for the hospital stay and $200 for the ambulance trip for a total of $900.

For most consumers it is much easier to budget a monthly premium of around $15.00 than to come up with $750 or more at one time.

Highlights of Hospital Indemnity Plans

Not all plans or riders are available in every state.

Hospital Indemnity Plans are limited benefit plans that pay all benefits directly to the consumer.

Benefits will be paid in addition to any other insurance plan the policyholder might have.

These plans were not designed to be supplements to other health insurance plans nor replace any traditional health insurance plan that you might have.

Alternatives To Hospital Indemnity Plans

While a Hospital Indemnity Plan may be right for you, a more commonly purchased solution is a Medicare Supplement Plan.

Many of the plans, such as Medigap Plan F and Plan G, will cover the costs for whatever Medicare Part A does not cover.

Take Action!

Now that you have a much better understanding of Hospital Indemnity Plans, it’s time to discuss your situation with a Senior Benefit Services expert.

To see if a hospital indemnity plan is right for you, please a Senior Benefit Services Expert Agent at (800) 924-4727.

There is never any cost or obligation.