It's important to discuss the pros and cons and various options with a person who specializes in eldercare counseling, usually an attorney. We attended an "Open House" community event at a local Sunrise Assisted Living home. There were break-out sessions with different experts. One was chaired by a a certified social worker with years of experience working with elderly people and their families. Too often they had not been advised of financial strategies that would have helped them obtain needed care without wiping out their life long savings. So this social worker attended law school at night and obtained a law degree.
She shared so much information that is not generally known by attorneys who do not specialize in elder law.
I would think that most nursing homes could provide contact info for one or more local attorneys who have worked with their patients. They may offer a free or minimal cost consultation. Unlike sales people working on commission, I would hope the attorney would provide honest unbiased advice.
States may have laws that impact upon your decisions. For instance, in New York State, if a person has been in a hospital or nursing home for 3 years and the cost has been covered by their own private long term care insurance policy, then they automatically become eligible for Medicaid coverage from that point on without having to exhaust their savings ("spend down"). And the nursing home will almost always alllow them to remain at the facility even if they do not ordinarily accept Medicaid patients (due to the lower reimbursement rate). For this reason, we felt comfortable choosing a policy that covers a maximum of 3 years coverage.
As mentioned above, if I were to need extensive in-patient care e.g. for a broken hip or back injury etc... and months of care were paid for by the LTC policy, and I recovered and went home, the "clock" would be re-set and I would be eligible for 3 full years of future care for another condition.
Different companies offer different options. The more options you choose, the more expensive it is. I was 56 and hubby was 49 when we took out our policy. We pay $2200. per year altogether and there has been no increase in the premium during the 9 years we have had it. It had one great option that none of the other companies offered--if one of us dies first, the surviving spouse is covered for life without having to pay any further premiums. I have been told that this option is no longer available for new policies.
When filing our New York State tax return, we receive a credit (not a deduction but a full credit) of 20% of the LTC premium, reducing our cost by $440. per year.
Our policy provides a fixed rate of $330. per day which may not be enough as the years go by. But the money we save by not having ever-increasing premiums will help pay the shortfall if we ever need it. Another good feature of our policy is that we can choose to have in-home care instead of being in a nursing home and the person or persons providing the care does not have to be a certified aide. We can choose a relative or friend and they will be paid the "going rate" charged by a certified agency in our area. I've been told that this benefit is no longer available to new policies, at least not with this company.
