Assistance with daily living activities, transportation to events, medication reminders, laundry, light housekeeping – all these activities are necessary for many elderly adults, but the cost of care adds up quickly. So, who pays for all these much needed services? If you don’t have long-term care insurance, you may not like the answer. Long-term care insurance benefits for seniors can save your family a lot of money.
What is Long-Term Care Insurance?
Simply put, long-term care insurance, also sometimes referred to as nursing home insurance, is a policy designed to cover long-term services and support including caregivers.
Yet, not everyone who qualifies has taken out a policy. In fact, only about 13% of adults 25-70 have invested in long-term care insurance. This presents a huge problem for so many families, especially as the Baby Boomer generation comes to retirement age and inevitably begins utilizing more and more long-term care services.
By 2030, 61 million Baby Boomers will be aged 66-84, many of them receiving some type of caregiving services. This influx of aging adults places an unprecedented strain on government-run programs such as Medicare and Medicaid, which means many seniors who have to rely on these programs will likely experience a serious delay in benefits if they come at all.
Investing in long-term care insurance can lessen the financial burden of aging seniors and their families as well as state-run programs.
What are the Benefits of Long-Term Care Insurance?
From the personal to the practical, there are a number of different reasons to invest in an insurance policy. It’s never too early to set up a policy and protect your and your loved one’s golden years.
Freedom of Choice
Because it’s so often referred to as the ‘nursing home’ insurance, many people believe you can only use long-term care insurance while in a facility. In truth, you can use this insurance on nearly any course of care.
Thanks to the ever-improving landscape of modern-day healthcare, we’re staying healthy longer than ever. So, while your loved one may need services such as companionship or meal preparation, they may not be quite ready to leave their home for an assisted living or nursing home facility.
At-home care is the perfect solution for these seniors and, of course, long-term care insurance is available to help pay for their caregiver.
Even better, you can liquidate part of the policy if needed – up to 30%!
More Autonomy
One thing we hear time and time again from our seniors is how they wish they knew about this insurance earlier in life. Many aging adults who require care don’t want to be a burden. It would surprise you how many of them put off care to avoid placing the ‘burden’ on their children, spouse, or other family members. Long-term care insurance gives them peace of mind that as they age, they can still be responsible for their own wellbeing.
Dollar-for-Dollar Asset Protection Program
In 2008, South Carolina realized the incoming wave of Baby Boomers could potentially bankrupt the system so they incentivized and endorsed residents to buy long-term care insurance so they wouldn’t have to foot the bill.
This prompted South Carolina to create a partnership between the state government and the private insurance industry. As told by LTCFacts.org, “The long-term care partnership program helps residents of South Carolina pay for their long-term care without having to spend down their assets, as they would have to do if they relied solely on Medicaid to pay for their long-term care.”
What does this mean for you and your senior?
Say your loved one has a half-million dollars of protection and their net worth is $700K. With the Dollar-for-Dollar Asset Protection program, they would still have to spend down to the protection amount of $500K, but at that point, the amount would freeze and the legacy they wanted to set aside for their family remains untouched.
There are many more benefits to the South Carolina Partnership for Long-Term Care. We suggest speaking with your long-term care insurance agent or one of our care coordinators to learn more about this fantastic program.
More Benefits Than Traditional Life Insurance
If you or your loved one has a life insurance policy, you may have seen an option to add on a long-term care policy. While this is better than no protection at all, you’re missing out on a number of wonderful benefits that come with a separate long-term care policy.
- The long-term care endorsement on a life insurance policy doesn’t qualify for the same benefits from the South Carolina Partnership for Long-Term Care.
- The policy amount doesn’t compound. Many long-term care policies compound 5%, which can add up to a significant amount over time.
- With some life insurance policies, you eat up benefits if you ever do need long-term care. Check with your agent to see if this applies to you.
Fortune favors the prepared. You never know what life will throw your way and long-term care insurance is an affordable way to secure care and stability in the future. Not everyone will qualify for this insurance policy, so reach out to a provider to get specific information.
It’s never too early to get a life insurance policy and with 5% compounding, you may consider getting your own policy while you set up one for your aging loved one.
About RetireEase
As the premier senior caregiver service in Columbia, SC, our caregivers are passionate about integrated care. We love helping older people continue to live full, active lives. You can learn more about our services here
If you’re looking for high-quality, personalized senior home care in the greater Columbia, SC area, we’d love to talk. You can contact us here.
