Long term care plan

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
Another thing you can do is go into one of those places with levels of care. You give them a large sum upfront (usually selling your house gets you the sum) and then you pay per month a reasonable amount for the rest of your life. I believe they invest your house money and then some of it is returned upon your demise.

These are called CCRCs, continuing care retirement centers. Those up front fees are essentially the same thing as giving the mmagemebtbcokpnt an interest free loan, and that’s fine - as long as they stay solvent. They’re regulated by state insurance boards much like LTC policy issuers, so you’re not insulating yourself from anything by doing this. You still need to do your homework.

[Anonymous]

^management company

[Anonymous]

Better than a long term care plan I think, is to make a solid plan while you are still healthy and able, for both spouses (if married) to be able to age in place successfully for a long time. This means:

- live in an accessible house (one story best); if you don't already, move
- live in a neighborhood with good transportation options even for the handicapped and easy shopping and delivery, access to health care
- live in a neighborhood with strong community support for the aging/handicapped
- if you renovate your house make things more handicapped accessible
- live in a state where there's a way to use Medicaid to pay for in-home care to keep you out of a nursing home
https://www.payingforseniorcare.com/medicaid-waivers/home-care.html

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Unfortunately there are systemic errors with how actuaries priced out LTC plans. Long story short, costs are significantly higher than expected as people are living much longer than planned and needing LTC for longer periods if they do need it. So these massive increases are the only way to keep the programs solvent. Just my gut feeling, but I think LTC is in a death spiral

This. Almost all the plans are losing money for the insurance companies.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Better than a long term care plan I think, is to make a solid plan while you are still healthy and able, for both spouses (if married) to be able to age in place successfully for a long time. This means:

- live in an accessible house (one story best); if you don't already, move
- live in a neighborhood with good transportation options even for the handicapped and easy shopping and delivery, access to health care
- live in a neighborhood with strong community support for the aging/handicapped
- if you renovate your house make things more handicapped accessible
- live in a state where there's a way to use Medicaid to pay for in-home care to keep you out of a nursing home
https://www.payingforseniorcare.com/medicaid-waivers/home-care.html

This!

Not a chance in HELL either of us will go to a home, unless it is memory care. And if that's the case, were going to make swift business of it and make a detour to Oregon unless more states decide to go the humane route.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Better than a long term care plan I think, is to make a solid plan while you are still healthy and able, for both spouses (if married) to be able to age in place successfully for a long time. This means:

- live in an accessible house (one story best); if you don't already, move
- live in a neighborhood with good transportation options even for the handicapped and easy shopping and delivery, access to health care
- live in a neighborhood with strong community support for the aging/handicapped
- if you renovate your house make things more handicapped accessible
- live in a state where there's a way to use Medicaid to pay for in-home care to keep you out of a nursing home
https://www.payingforseniorcare.com/medicaid-waivers/home-care.html

This!

Not a chance in HELL either of us will go to a home, unless it is memory care. And if that's the case, were going to make swift business of it and make a detour to Oregon unless more states decide to go the humane route.

How old are you?
My grandparents and then my parents both had this attitude until they were about 75 or so. The will to stay alive, even under circumstances that seemed intolerable to you when you were younger, can be strong for many people.

[Anonymous]

How much to self insure? Given the range in annual costs ($150k a year in Montgomery county) it is more helpful to know how many years of LTC to save for

[Anonymous]

I am a fed and bought into the fed-sponsored LTC program at the ripe age of...24. I am now 32. I, like the OP, received a hike in my premiums and I anticipate many many more hikes between now and when I actually will need LTC. When I first bought the insurance, my premiums were something like $12 and some change every other week and now they are at around $27 every other week. It is still manageable for me but one of the saving graces is that it is an unlimited/lifetime benefit. I am anticipating that science will get better that will allow humans to live longer, though not necessarily better, which is why I anticipate needing LTC.

I have zero faith in the actuaries who priced these products so I did a very conservative model. I still modeled how much I would be paying versus self-insuring based on the current rates of premium increases and it still comes out ahead buying into LTC. And, I used the most expensive costs of care (SF Bay Area and DC area) as a baseline and with expected cost increases.

Do yourself a favor, OP, stay on the plan! The insurance companies want you to drop! Don't indulge them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here
I am 55, single, 2 kids in college. I got the policy at 39, back when I was in way better physical shape than now
I don't think I have enough saved to self insure; when my ex FIL passed last year, he was spending 18/hr for care at home, which is more than the policy would pay me if I needed to use it now

At your age, it could be 30 years until you need care...or 30 days.

YMMV, but I would suggest getting a short-term disability plan for the 30-day scenario (this will be better than nothing while you try to get on SSDI) and start saving for the 30-year scenario. Switch to a HDHP with an HSA to increase your saving power.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am a fed and bought into the fed-sponsored LTC program at the ripe age of...24. I am now 32. I, like the OP, received a hike in my premiums and I anticipate many many more hikes between now and when I actually will need LTC. When I first bought the insurance, my premiums were something like $12 and some change every other week and now they are at around $27 every other week. It is still manageable for me but one of the saving graces is that it is an unlimited/lifetime benefit. I am anticipating that science will get better that will allow humans to live longer, though not necessarily better, which is why I anticipate needing LTC.

I have zero faith in the actuaries who priced these products so I did a very conservative model. I still modeled how much I would be paying versus self-insuring based on the current rates of premium increases and it still comes out ahead buying into LTC. And, I used the most expensive costs of care (SF Bay Area and DC area) as a baseline and with expected cost increases.

Do yourself a favor, OP, stay on the plan! The insurance companies want you to drop! Don't indulge them.

It’s great that you have an unlimited lifetime benefit but what is the daily/weekly max? Is it inflation protected?

[Anonymous]

Op, I gave up my Ltc policy the moment Maryland voted in favor of allowing the rates to be adjusted. Once my agent could not clarify if there was a ceiling on the increases I got out. Had I kep that policy my rate would be 1,700 per month today. I instead took my premium money and have placed it on a monthly basis in a dedicated health investmebt fund.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Op, I gave up my Ltc policy the moment Maryland voted in favor of allowing the rates to be adjusted. Once my agent could not clarify if there was a ceiling on the increases I got out. Had I kep that policy my rate would be 1,700 per month today. I instead took my premium money and have placed it on a monthly basis in a dedicated health investmebt fund.

wow! $1700/mo. ! Who is going to keep paying on that? It sucks that people have already paid into it and didn't get anything out of it. But, I can't imagine many people want to put that kind of money into something they don't control. You did the right thing by cutting your loses and moving on to your own savings vehicle.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am a fed and bought into the fed-sponsored LTC program at the ripe age of...24. I am now 32. I, like the OP, received a hike in my premiums and I anticipate many many more hikes between now and when I actually will need LTC. When I first bought the insurance, my premiums were something like $12 and some change every other week and now they are at around $27 every other week. It is still manageable for me but one of the saving graces is that it is an unlimited/lifetime benefit. I am anticipating that science will get better that will allow humans to live longer, though not necessarily better, which is why I anticipate needing LTC.

I have zero faith in the actuaries who priced these products so I did a very conservative model. I still modeled how much I would be paying versus self-insuring based on the current rates of premium increases and it still comes out ahead buying into LTC. And, I used the most expensive costs of care (SF Bay Area and DC area) as a baseline and with expected cost increases.

Do yourself a favor, OP, stay on the plan! The insurance companies want you to drop! Don't indulge them.

Is that really true? Why would insurance companies WANT you to drop out? They need your premiums to pay out the benefits for the people in LTC right now and in the near future. They want more people to sign up... and more premiums. Sure, they keep your premiums low when you are 24-45.... so you keep paying in. Then when you get closer to actually needing it -- like 50+, sounds like they jack up the premiums so high that people feel stuck. I doubt OP would be complaining if her monthly premiums were $50/month. See the PP above who was going to be paying $1700/mo!

They turn up the heat little by little and the frog doesn't know that it's boiling.

[Anonymous]

As a reference we are paying $20 for care per hour for Mom to be in her home.

[Anonymous]

Friend kept her Father at home, home care, and it was 3x the cost of a facility.