Suze Orman, in her book The Road to Wealth, points out that odds of your home burning down are 1 in 1200, your auto being totaled 1 in 248, but your chances of needing long-term care are 1 in 2. It is ironic that the insurance most likely to be used is not owned by the vast majority of people.

Long Term Care Insurance (LTCI) is a policy that preserves your assets while paying for any assisted living or in-home care services related to chronic illness, including home care, home modification benefits, adult day care, and the many levels of eldercare from assisted living to the nursing home. It provides independence and choice for the insured while easing the financial and emotional burdens that a chronic illness can have on loved ones.

Medicare will pay for rehabilitation up to 100 days per calendar year (only 20 days are 100% paid for, the rest require an out-of-pocket payment). Remember, it pays ONLY for rehabilitation. Once the care becomes custodial and the illness or condition chronic, Medicare funding stops.

Medicaid eligibility is dependent upon “spending down” your assets from the day that you apply, and this includes the joint assets of your spouse, savings, IRA, pension, 401K, and real estate holdings to mention only a few.  You will be expected to cover your own expenses until Medicaid decides that you are eligible for funding, at which time you will have reduced your financial means considerably. The Journal of Financial Planning notes that, “No one wants to go to a nursing home.  Yet Medicaid planning accomplishes basically only one thing:  qualifying the individual for payment in a nursing home.  Medicaid pays little or nothing for home care, adult care, and assisted living.”  Do you really want to spend your golden years meeting federal poverty guidelines?

As we have demonstrated, Medicare and Medicaid are not comprehensive, viable options for most people.  Long Term Care Insurance offers a sensible and affordable alternative.

Family members provide the majority of care giving in , but even individuals with children can’t impose on them for the long term, assuming that they live close enough to actually provide any kind of assistance.  Statistics show that caregivers’ health, careers and family lives suffer due to the amount of time needed to care for the chronically ill family member.  Having long term care insurance can help make those consequences manageable.

There are so many complex variations in assembling a long term care insurance policy that is almost impossible, and unfair, to try and compare them.  Each policy should be tailored to each individual or family needs and financial situation. A certified long-term care adviser will be able to help you construct your plan.  Furthermore, your long-term care adviser will know which insurance carriers are reputable and financially stable for the long term.

You can’t afford not to have long term care coverage.  According to a recent MetLife survey, home health services currently cost an average of $66,000/year.  Twenty years from now, it will be $198,000/year.  LTC insurance isn’t expensive – long term care is.

Money does not buy long term care insurance, health does. Like other types of insurance, ltc rates are based upon your health, age, marital status and finances. Discounts are given for younger ages, good health and the presence of a significant other in your life.

LTCI can help preserve the retirement dreams you worked your whole life to accomplish and the future of those you love the most.

Rosalyn Carter was quoted as saying:

                  “There are four kinds of people,

                                    Those who have been caregivers

                                    Those who are caregivers

                                    Those who will be caregivers, and

                                    Those who will need caregivers.”

Which will you be?

Lynn Rockwell,CLTC is the President of Rockwell Financial, LLC and can be reached at 856-693-2406, 856-228-9570, and rockwellfincl@aol.com.