Long-Term Care Insurance

How Does a Medicaid Annuity Work?

Published on: July 1, 2019 | By McCulloch & Miller, PLLC

When one spouse needs nursing home care and the other is healthy, there are several approaches that can be taken to securing Medicaid coverage. An elder law estate planning attorney should be contacted, since every situation is different. For some couples, a Medicaid-compliant annuity may be a solution.

What happens when one person needs long-term nursing home care, but does not have long-term care insurance and the family cannot afford to pay out of pocket? Applying for Medicaid is difficult if you have too much money to qualify, but not enough to allow the healthy spouse to afford to pay their bills.

Doing a “Medicaid spend down” requires the person to become broke, before they are eligible. What happens to the spouse’s lifestyle? One solution is a Medicaid Annuity, as described in U.S. News and World Report’s recent article, “What Is a Medicaid Annuity?”

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.

Choose Executor, Agent and Trustees Carefully

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

Selecting the individuals who will make important decisions on your behalf, when you are incapacitated or have passed away, is not to be done lightly.

Is there a bomb ticking quietly in your estate plan? The chances are good that there is, says Forbes in “Defusing The Time Bombs In Your Estate Plan.” The only question is, how big will that explosion be? The “bombs” are the people, or the individual, who you name to act on your behalf.

Whether they act during your lifetime or after you pass away, these individuals frequently can make or break your estate plan. They can determine the fates of family relationships and financial security. However, most people don’t realize the potential consequences of their surrogates’ actions. As a result, they don’t give sufficient thought to whom they appoint to these important roles.

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.

Estate Planning Alzheimer’s Disease Patients

Published on: July 29, 2015 | By McCulloch & Miller, PLLC

When a loved one has Alzheimer’s, advanced planning for legal and financial matters becomes even more important than in day-to-day estate planning. Ideally, planning well in advance, before the disease has taken a toll on the person’s cognitive abilities, may give them an opportunity to express their wishes for their care. The debilitating nature of Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia is extremely stressful for family members who are charged with being caregivers and decision makers. Planning early with the help of an experienced professional can alleviate some of the stress that results.

Caring for a loved one with Alzheimer’s or a different type of dementia is a challenge that requires a great deal of planning in advance. An article in The Lincoln (NE) Journal Staraddressed a number of financial, legal and medical care issues – “Planning the future of a loved one with dementia.”

You will encounter a number of costs in caring for a person with dementia. Planning for these expenses and costs throughout the course of the disease will involve examining all the costs you could possibly face now and in the future. These can include prescription drugs, personal care supplies, adult day care services, in-home care services, and residential care services.

Long-Term Care Lapse Logistics Impact Houston Families

Published on: February 28, 2014 | By McCulloch & Miller, PLLC

In the meantime, cases like this demonstrate anew how vigilant families need to be. If your older relative has a long-term care policy, photocopy the page listing the company, policy number and claims contact information. Keep the insurance company updated on new addresses, yours (if you are the third-party designee) and your relative’s. It wouldn’t hurt, if the policyholder is becoming forgetful, to check bank statements or call the company to be sure premiums are paid.

Do your elderly loved ones have a long-term care insurance policy or something similar? If yes, then they likely are relying on it to cover the potentially catastrophic financial risk that is long-term care. If yes, then what happens if they forget to pay the premiums?

Do I have your attention now? If yes, then you will want to read a recent horror story in The New York Times – The New Old Age Blog titled “The Policy Lapsed, but No One Knew.”

Insurance And Financial Planning Go Hand In Hand in Houston

Published on: December 13, 2013 | By McCulloch & Miller, PLLC

Discomfort with the details prevents many people from obtaining the necessary coverage.

The kinds of insurances we are “required” to buy help us with the minor bumps and scrapes in life and are sometimes easy to think about, shop for or ensure that we have adequate coverage. Auto and homeowners insurance, for example, come immediately to mind.

On the other hand, disability insurance, long-term care insurance and life insurance are another matter entirely. As USA Today points out in a recent article titled “Insurance is most ignored in financial planning,” these three insurances are all too often ignored, misunderstood and difficult to think about emotionally. Nevertheless, they are often essential.