LTCi Part 5: Partnership for Long-Term Care Insurance
May 20This is the fifth in a series of blogs on the topic of Long Term Care Insurance. I have broken them down into smaller segments since this is such an important and extensive topic
Many states have enacted a form of insurance called the Partnership for Long-term Care Insurance. For years, this was the best-kept secret in the insurance industry. Now, over 30 states have it and hopefully your state is one of them.
You might ask, “Why should I care?” You should care because the Partnership Plan enables you to protect your assets from Medicaid spend-down if you run out of benefits. Confused? Understandable. Let’s look at an example.
Let’s say you are married and have $200,000 in investments, plus a house. As you will see in Naked in the Nursing Home, the house is a protected asset when it comes to Medicaid, as long as your spouse lives in the house. The $200,000 in investments are considered countable assets –although clearly not enough money to pay for an extended stay in a long-term care facility, especially when the national average is $90,000 per year.
If you buy the Partnership for Long-term Care Insurance using some of the income from the $200,000; you will not only have your nursing expenses paid by the policy, but you will have protected the $200,000 from spend-down if you buy the right amount. So now you’ve saved money and made sure your long-term care will be covered. Is that worth caring about? You decide.
This is a complex area with many ramifications all of which are clearly explained in Naked in the Nursing Home: A Woman’s Guide to Paying for Long-Term Care without Going Broke.
