Long-term care insurance

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I tried to get it but an obscure non-verified diagnosis five years ago DQ’d me. It was a hybrid plan- $126k cost for nine years of coverage starting around $6k a month with a COLA. It would have paid out over $1.4 million if the entire thing was used.

Needless to say I now have to self insure. My mom’s care is roughly $7-9k a week at this point.

Serious question. How can we say we are proud to be Americans with this kind of highway robbery? I don't care what illness someone has. $7k per week is simply a shame.

This then beg the question, if someone at some point has to pay this much, how can a yearly salary under $1 million be a good salary?

We are royalty f*&#d

Average lifespan of a nursing facility patient is 13.7 months, and 53% die within 6 months. It is a crazy amount, but based on fairly short life expectancies once someone enters the facility.

I get the averages, but I'd plan for a bit more. I've watched one relative live already 2.5 years in nursing care (they are 90 now) and still going strong, mentally still there, so it could be 1 month or several years.
Another just spent 7 years in Memory care, and could have lasted longer if they had not gotten the flu (otherwise they were still doing well considering the circumstances).
So I'd plan for 2-3 years in advanced care at least. Don't want to be a burden on our kids

Why in nursing care? I didn't see any folks in my dad's nursing care that were "going strong" and none seemed mentally there.

There are a bunch in the senior living part.

[Anonymous]

My mom was in care for 10 yrs. My father has been in care for 22. It’s crazy $$$.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I tried to get it but an obscure non-verified diagnosis five years ago DQ’d me. It was a hybrid plan- $126k cost for nine years of coverage starting around $6k a month with a COLA. It would have paid out over $1.4 million if the entire thing was used.

Needless to say I now have to self insure. My mom’s care is roughly $7-9k a week at this point.

Serious question. How can we say we are proud to be Americans with this kind of highway robbery? I don't care what illness someone has. $7k per week is simply a shame.

This then beg the question, if someone at some point has to pay this much, how can a yearly salary under $1 million be a good salary?

We are royalty f*&#d

Average lifespan of a nursing facility patient is 13.7 months, and 53% die within 6 months. It is a crazy amount, but based on fairly short life expectancies once someone enters the facility.

I get the averages, but I'd plan for a bit more. I've watched one relative live already 2.5 years in nursing care (they are 90 now) and still going strong, mentally still there, so it could be 1 month or several years.
Another just spent 7 years in Memory care, and could have lasted longer if they had not gotten the flu (otherwise they were still doing well considering the circumstances).
So I'd plan for 2-3 years in advanced care at least. Don't want to be a burden on our kids

Why in nursing care? I didn't see any folks in my dad's nursing care that were "going strong" and none seemed mentally there.

There are a bunch in the senior living part.

By going strong I mean for a 90 year old who is in nursing care (needs assistance with daily dressing/toileting/etc). And this person is alerts, memory is great for 90 yo, yes sometimes he thinks something from 7 years ago was a few months ago, but the memory is clear and that isn't all the time. Person knows me when I visit (and they last saw me 7 years ago prior), knows my parents (his sibling) and asked about my siblings. So for 90, that is "going strong to me". You can have meaningful conversations with them, they recognize everyone, etc. They just declined 2.5 years ago when they got covid and never got out of nursing care. But still does puzzles and plays games when people visit (and with some other residents who are able--yes not all in nursing care can). Introduced me to other residents as I pushed them thru the halls. I'd call that doing well for 90

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My mom was in care for 10 yrs. My father has been in care for 22. It’s crazy $$$.

Yeah well most are only 1-2 year, I know plenty who last longer. That is why you plan for more than 6-12 months, at least 2-3 years, because it can happen to you

[Anonymous]

Looked into getting a policy but basically discovered they were, as people here have said, outlandishly expensive. I have multiple chronic health conditions that probably would have disqualified me anyway; I guess my kids will have to hope I die of those comorbidities before I need long-term care! Fortunately, my Boomer parents have policies of the kind that led the insurers to stop issuing them...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I tried to get it but an obscure non-verified diagnosis five years ago DQ’d me. It was a hybrid plan- $126k cost for nine years of coverage starting around $6k a month with a COLA. It would have paid out over $1.4 million if the entire thing was used.

Needless to say I now have to self insure. My mom’s care is roughly $7-9k a week at this point.

That's an insane amount- I have heard up to $150k/year for a nursing home, not $400k. What sort of care is required? How long has it been at that level?

400k, she must have 24/7 care at her home.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I tried to get it but an obscure non-verified diagnosis five years ago DQ’d me. It was a hybrid plan- $126k cost for nine years of coverage starting around $6k a month with a COLA. It would have paid out over $1.4 million if the entire thing was used.

Needless to say I now have to self insure. My mom’s care is roughly $7-9k a week at this point.

That's an insane amount- I have heard up to $150k/year for a nursing home, not $400k. What sort of care is required? How long has it been at that level?

400k, she must have 24/7 care at her home.

This is the PP. My mom is in memory care at $15k a month and she needs a one-on-one aid at $36-$38 an hour (weekday/weekend). She needed 24/7 one on one care for a few months, we’ve backed it down to overnights for now but have had to add in some daytime care here and there.

She’s the worst case scenario- late stage dementia, too weak to walk but extremely restless and agitated and can’t sit still so she’s constantly trying to get up. She’s on hospice and they’ve been trying to get meds right so she’ll calm down and chill. But she’s always been restless and never knew how to relax.

Just when you think you’ve seen the worst with dementia it throws something else your way. It really is the absolute worst.

[Anonymous]

We are 64 and 65. Our network is about $9 million. We were told we didn’t need it. Not sure if that helps.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We are 64 and 65. Our network is about $9 million. We were told we didn’t need it. Not sure if that helps.

Because you can self pay for many years for each of you. With your NW, it might be worthwhile getting into a great CCRC (where the entry fee includes admission to the higher levels of care without any additional costs, except 2 extra meals per day)---do it by time you are early 70/still healthy.
But if not, you can likely afford in home care and/or a facility as needed quite easily. Because while you might want $25-30K/month now, much of that spending goes away when you can no longer travel, golf, go out to eat

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Looked into getting a policy but basically discovered they were, as people here have said, outlandishly expensive. I have multiple chronic health conditions that probably would have disqualified me anyway; I guess my kids will have to hope I die of those comorbidities before I need long-term care! Fortunately, my Boomer parents have policies of the kind that led the insurers to stop issuing them...

+1 My mom died of ALS 25 years ago and that convinced my dad to get TWO different long term care policies - supposedly the ones so good you can’t get them anymore - so we would never have to worry about that. He developed glioblastoma and needed 24/7 care for five months and despite my executor sibling hounding them for months neither of them ever paid a dime. Wiggled out of everything.

[Anonymous]

“ Be glad you are in a major metro area. If you lived in a rural area your hospital or care home probably just closed, or is going to shortly.”

Go up to Snowshoe, right before you get there, Green Bank WV has an assisted living facility. I bet it’s very affordable!

[Anonymous]

We retired with $3 million in the bank (brokerage and retirement funds), a small pension ($3k/month), and a paid off $1.2 million home (conservatively, of we had to have a fire sale tomorrow). Early 60s, have health insurance covered through a previous employer. We were told not to bother with long term care insurance because the policies today arent worth the paper they are printed on (won't make a dent in the cost of care) or are so expensive that we are better off paying out of pocket

[Anonymous]

Do you have a financial advisor
Managing your money? This is really a good question for that person. They know your rate of savings and your risk appetite.

FWIW, my spouse is in the nursing home business and I’m in the insurance business. We don’t have it for many reasons including because our financial advisor also recommends against it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I tried to get it but an obscure non-verified diagnosis five years ago DQ’d me. It was a hybrid plan- $126k cost for nine years of coverage starting around $6k a month with a COLA. It would have paid out over $1.4 million if the entire thing was used.

Needless to say I now have to self insure. My mom’s care is roughly $7-9k a week at this point.

Serious question. How can we say we are proud to be Americans with this kind of highway robbery? I don't care what illness someone has. $7k per week is simply a shame.

This then beg the question, if someone at some point has to pay this much, how can a yearly salary under $1 million be a good salary?

We are royalty f*&#d

Average lifespan of a nursing facility patient is 13.7 months, and 53% die within 6 months. It is a crazy amount, but based on fairly short life expectancies once someone enters the facility.

This assumption got my parents into trouble. My parents' financial advisor kept telling them "You're fine, you're fine" and when I pressed that 4 years of memory care could wipe out all of their savings, he replied with the above quote - most people only need nursing home care for a year.

But this completely ignores that my dad was very healthy and has a family history of dementia. It is very possible that he'll need 2+ years of memory care. We are already planning to start the Medicaid forms next year once they spend down their savings enough to meet the Medicaid limits ($12k/month memory care, but they are already nickel diming us on extra costs). Fingers crossed that Medicaid still exists and that his facility will actually accept it when the time comes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I tried to get it but an obscure non-verified diagnosis five years ago DQ’d me. It was a hybrid plan- $126k cost for nine years of coverage starting around $6k a month with a COLA. It would have paid out over $1.4 million if the entire thing was used.

Needless to say I now have to self insure. My mom’s care is roughly $7-9k a week at this point.

Serious question. How can we say we are proud to be Americans with this kind of highway robbery? I don't care what illness someone has. $7k per week is simply a shame.

This then beg the question, if someone at some point has to pay this much, how can a yearly salary under $1 million be a good salary?

We are royalty f*&#d

Average lifespan of a nursing facility patient is 13.7 months, and 53% die within 6 months. It is a crazy amount, but based on fairly short life expectancies once someone enters the facility.

This assumption got my parents into trouble. My parents' financial advisor kept telling them "You're fine, you're fine" and when I pressed that 4 years of memory care could wipe out all of their savings, he replied with the above quote - most people only need nursing home care for a year.

But this completely ignores that my dad was very healthy and has a family history of dementia. It is very possible that he'll need 2+ years of memory care. We are already planning to start the Medicaid forms next year once they spend down their savings enough to meet the Medicaid limits ($12k/month memory care, but they are already nickel diming us on extra costs). Fingers crossed that Medicaid still exists and that his facility will actually accept it when the time comes.

My mom is coming up on two years in memory care in January. But prior to that was assisted living and before that was independent living. So her cost of care has been ever increasing over the past 5-7 years, with the last two being the cherry on top. I tell my son to be creative if I ever get dementia, I won’t hold it against him.