Are you Financially Prepared for Long-Term Care?
Maximizing Money for an Aging Population & Solutions for Long-Term Care Funding
November is National Long Term Care Awareness Month and America is experiencing a deluge of adults reaching retirement age that are also living longer.
By 2030, when the last of the baby boomers have reached 65, one of every five Americans will be retirement age, according to the Pew Research Center’s population projections. Money will be a big problem for many of them, especially if they develop a health issue that requires daily caregiving. Will a Nursing Home be the Financial Death of you?
“Life Care Funding started out to develop a financial solution for the now protracted golden years and we realized the solution had always been right under our noses,” says Orestis, a former insurance industry lobbyist who recently contributed to the federal commission inquiry into long-term care solutions.
“Your life insurance policy can be used to pay for your long-term health care today, including home care, assisted-living or nursing home expenses,” Orestis says. “Why hasn’t anyone realized it before? Because the life insurance industry benefits when people give up their policies because they can’t afford them.”
With 30 percent of the Medicaid population spending 87 percent of Medicaid dollars on long-term care services, more individuals will be forced to find their own resources to pay for those needs. That’s why seniors should know that they can sell their policy for between 30 and 60 percent of its death benefit value. The money is put into an irrevocable account designated specifically to make monthly payments to help cover any form of Senior Care they want!
This option is receiving significant political support around the country. States such as California, Florida, New York and Texas have been introducing notification laws to make sure people are informed by their Medicaid Departments that everyone has the right to use this options and that it is an accepted part of a Medicaid spend-down. In 2013, Texas became the first state to pass this law specifically endorsing the Long Term Care Benefit Plan solution.
Here are some discussion questions to consider further about the long term care funding crisis:
- Will Medicaid’s funds simply dry up? If so, when?
- Can you convert a life insurance policy to long-term care?
- What type of life insurance policy can be converted?
- Is long-term care insurance a dying solution?
- Is refinancing one’s home a good idea when trying to pay for long-term care?
- Are there lifestyle choices that might help prevent the need for long-term care?
Contact Life Care Funding today and join the discussion!
About Chris Orestis
Chris Orestis, nationally known senior health-care advocate and expert is CEO of Life Care Funding, which created the model for converting life insurance policies into protected Long-Term Care Benefit funds. His company has been providing care benefits to policy holders for more than five years. A former life insurance industry lobbyist with a background in long-term care issues, he created the model to provide an option for middle-class people who are not wealthy enough to pay for long-term care, and not poor enough to qualify for Medicaid.