Long-Term Care Insurance

How to Pay for Long Term Care in 2024 and Beyond

Published on: September 15, 2024 | By David W. Miller

In Texas and in other states, long term care is expensive; nursing homes, private care, and health aides are costly, and as Americans age, they face the issue of figuring out how to unlock crucial medical services. In general, there are three main ways to pay for long term care, all of which we will review in today’s blog. The reality is that each person’s financial circumstances will be different, and each person will have a slightly different method that allows them to access important long term care resources.

Option 1: Pay Out of Pocket

First, you could pay out of pocket for long term care. This, of course, is difficult for most Americans. It also requires significant financial planning prior to old age. Paying out of pocket does allow for maximum flexibility in both how you access your services and in choosing the services you access. If you are financially able to choose this option, it is the best course of action to take.

Option 2: Use Long Term Care Insurance

Second, you could use long term care insurance to pay for your nursing home or care facility. The insurance company will subsidize your care, offering significant savings. Of course, this option requires that you opt into a specific kind of insurance. To access the insurance, you must 1) pay a significant cost and 2) plan to enroll in the insurance early on.

How You Can Pay for Long-Term Care in Houston

Published on: January 27, 2021 | By McCulloch & Miller, PLLC

Planning a person’s future—especially as they are aging and struggling to take care of daily tasks—is both daunting and stressful for the individual and their loved ones. Long-term care is a type of service that individuals often need if they cannot care for themselves, either due to illness, disability, or diseases like Alzheimer’s. Long-term care often includes care in a Houston nursing home, supervision at an adult day care facility, and health services provided at home. However, these services are often extremely costly, so loved ones worry about paying for such care. Below we discuss a few options for paying for long-term care, along with explaining long-term care insurance.

How Can I Pay for Long-Term Care?

The cost of the services is based on numerous factors, including the type of care needed, how long the care is required, where the care is given, and what type of medical professional provides it. Because of this, there are a variety of ways to pay for long-term care. These options are personal savings, Medicaid; Medicare; benefits from a life insurance policy; or long-term care insurance.

Next Steps When the Diagnosis is Alzheimer’s

Published on: September 25, 2019 | By McCulloch & Miller, PLLC

We hope to enjoy out golden years, relaxing after decades of working and raising children. However, as we age, the likelihood of experiencing health issue increase. That includes Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia.

Learning that a loved one has Alzheimer’s or other diseases that require a great deal of health care is devastating to the individual and their families. The progressive nature of these diseases means that while the person doesn’t need intensive health care yet, eventually they will. According to an article from Newsmax, “5 Insurance Steps After Alzheimer's Strikes Loved One,” the planning for care needs to start immediately.

Alzheimer’s Disease International predicts that 44 million individuals worldwide have Alzheimer’s or a similar form of dementia, and 25% of those living with it never receive a diagnosis. Healthcare, including assisted living, memory care and in-home care is expensive. Health insurance is an important component of managing the ongoing expenses of living with Alzheimer’s.

Can I Sell A Long-Term Care Insurance Policy?

Published on: June 17, 2019 | By McCulloch & Miller, PLLC

If a couple is thinking that they can sell the long-term care portion of a policy, because their HMO will cover the cost of long-term or skilled nursing care, they need to think again.

All too often, people think that they have found a simple solution to a complicated problem, and then it turns out that it doesn’t work the way they thought it would. To prevent an expensive mistake, speak with an experienced estate planning attorney, before making an expensive mistake.

While there is a market to sell life insurance through what is known as a life settlement, there’s no market for long-term care policies.

Are You Saving Enough for the High Cost of Assisted Living?

Published on: March 13, 2018 | By McCulloch & Miller, PLLC

If you haven’t been saving for retirement, maybe you’ll do better if you are focused on saving for assisted living. One well known survey, 2017 Genworth Cost of Care Survey, reports that you’ll need $1,517 a month for adult day health care. Those fees are only going in one direction—up!

Adult health day care is not inexpensive in our country. If all you need is adult day health care, consider yourself lucky. It’s a bargain at more than $1500 a month, compared to $3,750 for an assisted living facility, $3,994 for home care services, and $4,099 for home health aides.

If you want some privacy, the median cost is $7,148 for a semiprivate room at a nursing home and $8,121 for a private room. Will you be able afford it? Wealth Advisor poses this question in its recent article, “Have Clients Planned For Long-Term Care?”

Why You Need Long-Term Care Insurance

Published on: December 14, 2017 | By McCulloch & Miller, PLLC

The cost of long-term care insurance may not be cheap, but the cost of long-term care is extremely expensive, and is only moving higher.

Long-term care insurance is costly, but health care costs for seniors who need long-term care could easily undo decades of retirement planning. Here’s what you need to know about the costs and benefits of long-term care insurance.

The Chicago Tribune’s recent article, “Thinking of buying long-term care insurance? Consider these costs,” reports that a 2015 cost of care survey from insurance company Genworth Financial estimated the national median cost of care for a home health aide to be almost $46,000 annually, while the national median cost for a private nursing room home is more than $91,000 annually.

Alzheimer’s or Dementia Screening Now Covered by Medicare

Published on: February 8, 2017 | By McCulloch & Miller, PLLC

You might think that any doctor seeing patients over a certain age would automatically screen for Alzheimer’s or other dementia-related diseases, but until now that has not been the case.

Starting in January, Medicare will now begin reimbursing doctors for screening and providing information about care planning for patients with Alzheimer’s and other cognitive impairment diseases. What seems like common sense public health policy, took many years of advocacy from patient groups.

Santa Cruz Sentinel’s recent article, “Diagnosing Alzheimer’s: Medicare now pays doctors to stop and assess memory loss,” reports that more than 5 million Americans are living with Alzheimer’s, and as many as 16 million will have the disease in 2050. The cost of caring for those with the disease and other types of dementia is also skyrocketing. In the U.S., it’s estimated to total $236 billion in 2016 and is anticipated to increase to $1.1 trillion by 2050.

Not If, But When: Make a Plan for Incapacity

Published on: December 1, 2016 | By McCulloch & Miller, PLLC

Incapacity might be harder for some people to imagine than death. They can’t wrap their thoughts around the idea of being alive yet unable to function.

Making decisions for how you want to be cared for while you are still able to choose, is a gift to yourself and your loved ones. If you are not able to convey how much intervention you want, or if you want no care at all, your children and medical professionals will have to make the decision for you. According to Barron’s in “Three End-of-Life Estate Plan Lessons,” not planning for incapacity creates a heartbreaking situation for your heirs and could also undo a great deal of your estate plan.

Let’s look at some important lessons about incapacity planning:

It Takes More than a Nest to Protect Your Retirement

Published on: September 2, 2016 | By McCulloch & Miller, PLLC

Having an emergency fund in place will help you deal with the unexpected. Surprising survey results point to this as a very weak link in many Americans’ financial plans.

Seniors who have finally reached retirement age after decades of work and smart planning may think they are all set once their nest egg is funded. But that nest egg needs to be protected by an emergency fund—something which most Americans seem to have forgotten during their retirement planning.

Fox Business’ recent article, “What Nest Egg? Two-Thirds of Americans Can't Cover $1,000 Emergency,” talks about the importance of maintaining an emergency fund so you don’t take withdrawals from your retirement accounts.

How to Prepare for Long-Term Care Costs in Houston

Published on: August 15, 2016 | By McCulloch & Miller, PLLC

The cost of long-term care can take a huge bite out of retirement savings, exhaust family resources and create strain on relationships. Don’t count on Medicare, but do plan in advance.

At least seven out of ten Americans age 65 and over will need long-term care at some point. Most people simply underestimate the cost of long-term care, or they think that Medicaid will cover the costs. Your best defense against long-term care costs: advance planning with professional help.

The Memphis Daily News article, “Long-Term Care – Not for Everyone,” says that Medicare does little for these costs and only for a short time period. Medicaid doesn’t apply until the assets of an estate are spent down, so many people must pay for these costs out-of-pocket. The article says that there are only two ways to address these expenses: with your investment/retirement portfolio and with long-term care insurance. Most people review the cost of long-term care insurance and elect to roll the dice, but when that first round of expenses hits, they probably will wish they’d bought it long ago. Now it’s usually too late to buy it. If you can afford to self-insure, you can save your estate and yourself some serious money.