Long term care plan

[Anonymous]

Filipino maids

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

I was the fed poster above. As I understand, yes, they wanted some folks to drop out. They would have gone about it to refund the premiums paid up to the point of dropping out because the actuaries probably miscalculated the amount they would have to pay out when the individual actually needed long term care. Refunding maybe $7,000-$15,000 in premiums paid is much much better than paying out $250,000 in long term care services. The other thing the FLTCIP did was give the option for participants to decrease coverage. Screw that. I will not be short-changed because the actuaries screwed up.

I guess I was lucky and took the advice of a friend who said buy it now and with inflation protection AND the unlimited benefits. It's unconscionable that States insurance commissioners, actuaries, and the insurance companies themselves allowed this crisis to happen.

[Anonymous]

"The cost of nursing home care depends, in large part, upon the length of your stay. A 2010 study in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society found that the median length of stay in a nursing home before death was 5 months. However, men died sooner than women and had a median length stay of about 3 months, compared to women at 8 months."

(of course men stay in nursing homes for a shorter period of time b/c they typically have their wives to take care of them at home. Women tend to live longer, and therefore, their husbands are not living and not able to care for them at home.)

I think it makes sense to just save for yourself.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

I was the fed poster above. As I understand, yes, they wanted some folks to drop out. They would have gone about it to refund the premiums paid up to the point of dropping out because the actuaries probably miscalculated the amount they would have to pay out when the individual actually needed long term care. Refunding maybe $7,000-$15,000 in premiums paid is much much better than paying out $250,000 in long term care services. The other thing the FLTCIP did was give the option for participants to decrease coverage. Screw that. I will not be short-changed because the actuaries screwed up.

I guess I was lucky and took the advice of a friend who said buy it now and with inflation protection AND the unlimited benefits. It's unconscionable that States insurance commissioners, actuaries, and the insurance companies themselves allowed this crisis to happen.

New poster who is also a fed and bought the Fed ltc policy at age 31 with max benefits. I was offered to reduce my coverage a few years ago when a new company took over the contract and like the pp I said nope. I'm still with them. I think I paid approx $70 initially but my rate went up quite a bit when the contract got rebid. I'd have to look up exactly what I am paying now but it is low 100s.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

I was the fed poster above. As I understand, yes, they wanted some folks to drop out. They would have gone about it to refund the premiums paid up to the point of dropping out because the actuaries probably miscalculated the amount they would have to pay out when the individual actually needed long term care. Refunding maybe $7,000-$15,000 in premiums paid is much much better than paying out $250,000 in long term care services. The other thing the FLTCIP did was give the option for participants to decrease coverage. Screw that. I will not be short-changed because the actuaries screwed up.

I guess I was lucky and took the advice of a friend who said buy it now and with inflation protection AND the unlimited benefits. It's unconscionable that States insurance commissioners, actuaries, and the insurance companies themselves allowed this crisis to happen.

New poster who is also a fed and bought the Fed ltc policy at age 31 with max benefits. I was offered to reduce my coverage a few years ago when a new company took over the contract and like the pp I said nope. I'm still with them. I think I paid approx $70 initially but my rate went up quite a bit when the contract got rebid. I'd have to look up exactly what I am paying now but it is low 100s.

have you ever added up all of your premiums to date and then made an educated guess for what your premiums might be in the future? Just wondering if you can tell us what you might be paying out in total.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

I was the fed poster above. As I understand, yes, they wanted some folks to drop out. They would have gone about it to refund the premiums paid up to the point of dropping out because the actuaries probably miscalculated the amount they would have to pay out when the individual actually needed long term care. Refunding maybe $7,000-$15,000 in premiums paid is much much better than paying out $250,000 in long term care services. The other thing the FLTCIP did was give the option for participants to decrease coverage. Screw that. I will not be short-changed because the actuaries screwed up.

I guess I was lucky and took the advice of a friend who said buy it now and with inflation protection AND the unlimited benefits. It's unconscionable that States insurance commissioners, actuaries, and the insurance companies themselves allowed this crisis to happen.

New poster who is also a fed and bought the Fed ltc policy at age 31 with max benefits. I was offered to reduce my coverage a few years ago when a new company took over the contract and like the pp I said nope. I'm still with them. I think I paid approx $70 initially but my rate went up quite a bit when the contract got rebid. I'd have to look up exactly what I am paying now but it is low 100s.

have you ever added up all of your premiums to date and then made an educated guess for what your premiums might be in the future? Just wondering if you can tell us what you might be paying out in total.

PP fed here. Yes, I did add all the premiums I paid to date and created a model with a premium increase for future years. I exponentially increased my future premiums something like 40% every 4-5 years (I’ll have to look back at the excel spreadsheet) and came up to something in the ballpark of roughly $44-$50k paid with a start age to use LTC of 70.5. You’d still come out ahead if you bought LTC insurance. And while folks are citing those medical studies of long term care average years of use, those data are based on previous generations. I’m pretty confident that my generation—the Millenials—will live longer and as medicine/science progresses, we will prolong life. Not necessarily living better, but living longer. Call me a pessimist but I’m pretty sure I’ll be eating from a feeding tube toward the tail end of my lifespan.

And, you bet my financial planning/estate planning is going to include calling out John Hancock and OPM when it’s time to go to old people camp.

[Anonymous]

OP, can you tell us the name of your insurer? We have John Hancock for LTC and had a big increase in costs a few years ago. I'm afraid they are getting ready to do it again.