By Allison Bell/August 27, 2012 Investigators at the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) have found that state Medicaid programs are having trouble getting the consumer financial information they need to determine whether residents seeking Medicaid nursing home benefits really are poor enough to qualify for the benefits. Carolyn Yocum, discusses the GAO’s findings in a report on state Medicaid long-term care (LTC) asset screening prepared for Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, and Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., who is a medical doctor. State Medicaid plans pay for…
Posts tagged "Long Term Care Insurance"
Another Way to Pay for Long Term Care
BRADENTON HERALD by Tom Roberts Paying for long term-care can decimate your finances. Typically, the options for planning to cover these expenses consist of purchasing a long-term care insurance policy or setting aside a large chunk of financial assets. Recently, some new choices to help reduce the risk of not having enough to cover long-term care expenses have become available. These include hybrid long-term care and life insurance, long-term care and annuity, and pooled benefits policies. A fairly new solution is converting an existing life…
The Medicaid Problem Grows and a Solution Emerges
When Medicaid was created on July 30th, 1965, the entire GDP of the United States was $791.1 billion, and no one could have predicted that by 2009 the U.S. would spend over $2 trillion on health care in a single year. Today, Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid are all in the red and creating havoc for government budgets at the federal and state levels. According to Chairman Ben Bernanke, this has become the number one concern of the Federal Reserve about the U.S. economy. State…
A Growing Strategy: Paying for Long-Term Care with Life Policies
Medicaid was signed into law in 1965 by President Lyndon Johnson as a safety net to provide health care to the indigent and disabled. Over the years it has also become the major payer of long-term care services for the elderly in the United States: More than 10 million Americans now require long-term care annually and Medicaid funds at least two-thirds of all spending for nursing home care today. In 2009, $240 billion was spent on long-term care services, and Medicaid accounted for 43 percent…
Seniors Pay for Long Term Care Using Life Policies
The White House and Republican leaders from Congress are currently engaged in a contentious negotiation over a balanced budget and how to rein in the massive debt our nation has incurred. The ability of Medicare and Medicaid to meet the demands for long-term care is being greatly challenged and reforms are inevitable. But one area that is receiving more emphasis is private-pay options to cover the costs of long-term care. Earlier this year, the two largest assisted-living companies in the United States made separate announcements…
Long Term Care Funding Crisis Driving a Search for Alternatives
State lawmakers understand the situation, and efforts throughout the country are underway to find alternative, private-market solutions to help pay for LTC services. Ten years ago it looked like long-term care insurance was going to be a major part of the solution. Unfortunately, growth in sales for the last decade has actually declined and serious market disruptions further hampered the product. The combined impact of MetLife leaving the market in 2010 and The Guardian leaving the market in 2011, multiple rate increases from Genworth and…
Funding Long Term Care with Life Insurance: Trend Catches On
For many policy owners, life insurance is an easily abandoned illiquid asset. The vast majority of in-force life insurance policies will never pay a death benefit because they either expire, lapse, or are surrendered for cash value. The New York law, as well as other legislative and market activities, point to the growing realization that life insurance policies are an asset well-suited to help pay for long term care. Too few seniors realize that their policy could be used for purposes other than a death…
Life Care Funding Introduces Long Term Care Assurance Benefit Plan
Consumer Benefit Plan converts a life insurance policy into a long term care benefit plan For Immediate Release (October 7, 2010) – Life Care Funding Group announced today the introduction of the Life Care Assurance Benefit Plan. The benefit plan converts a life insurance policy into a long term care benefit that will pay for the costs of long term care services of all forms. For those requiring long term care services such as home healthcare, assisted living and skilled nursing, the Assurance Benefit converts…
Brookdale Senior Living Introduces Life Care Assurance Benefit Plan
Program converts a life insurance policy into a senior living or long term care benefit plan PORTLAND, Maine—Brookdale Senior Living and Life Care Funding Group announced today the introduction of the Life Care Assurance Benefit Plan to Brookdale’s communities across the United States. The program converts a life insurance policy into a benefit that will pay for the costs of senior living or long term care. One of the biggest challenges families face when moving into a senior living community is the monthly expenses. For…