Assurance Benefit program converts life insurance policy for seniors to pay for long term care

(February 22, 2011) – Seattle, Washington – Emeritus Senior Living, a national provider of assisted living services to seniors, announced today that it is partnering with Life Care Funding Group to educate seniors about the financing options available for covering long term care, including assisted living. Emeritus is actively working to raise awareness of the Assurance Benefit offered by Life Care Funding, which converts the death benefit of an active life insurance policy into a long term care benefit to help pay for the cost of long term care services. This lesser-known financial resource could benefit thousands of seniors and their families who are in need of long term care.

With 479 communities nationwide, Emeritus Senior Living works with seniors every day to determine financial solutions to help them make the move to an assisted living community. The Assurance Benefit plan is a unique option because there are no wait periods to qualify, no limitations, and no costs to apply or premium payments. Policy owners use their legal right to convert a life insurance policy to enroll in the benefit plan and are able to immediately direct payments to cover the costs of long term care. Applying for the benefit plan is a simple process and can be completed with the first benefit payments being issued in as little time as thirty days.

“Our goal at Emeritus is to ensure that seniors are properly cared for, and part of that goal is to help families with the financial decisions and details involved in caring for their loved ones,” said Jayne Sallerson, EVP, Sales & Marketing at Emeritus. “Many seniors and families are unaware that their life insurance policies are valuable assets and can be used in this way, and as a result some let active policies lapse. We hope that we can help educate seniors about their resources, so that more seniors can have access to the long term care that they need.”

“It is imperative that life insurance policy holders understand that they have alternatives to merely lapsing or surrendering their policy,” said Chris Orestis, CEO at Life Care Funding. “Recently we heard from a family with a $95,000 life insurance policy entering its grace period. Their mother was in the process of making the move into long term care and they could not afford the monthly expenses. They called their insurance company to ask what they could do with their policy and they were told their only option was to pay the premium or let it lapse. Then they contacted Life Care Funding and we converted the policy into a long term care benefit plan that is now covering the costs of care and will keep her off of Medicaid for at least two years.”
About Emeritus Corporation
Emeritus Corporation is a national provider of senior living services. Emeritus is one of the largest and most experienced operators of freestanding assisted living communities located throughout the United States. These communities provide a residential housing alternative for senior citizens who need assistance with the activities of daily living, with an emphasis on personal care services, which provides support to the residents in the aging process. Emeritus currently operates 479 communities in 42 states representing capacity for approximately 42,500 units and approximately 49,700 residents. Additional information about the Company can be located on the Internet at www.emeritus.com.

About Life Care Funding
Founded in 2007, Life Care Funding Group (LCFG) assists people in need of funds to cover the costs of senior housing and long term care. LCFG specializes in converting the death benefit of an in-force life insurance policy into a long term care benefit to cover the costs of skilled nursing home care, assisted living, home health care, and hospice. Thousands of assisted living communities, nursing homes, home healthcare providers and senior care advisors offer Life Care Funding to families across the country everyday.