Hartford elder law attorneys speak to a lot of senior citizens who are concerned about long-term care. A stay in a nursing home or assisted living community can present quite a strain on one’s retirement budget, and Medicare does not pay for an extended stay in one of these facilities.
One possible solution would be to purchase long-term care insurance. While the premiums can be considerable they are less expensive if you obtain the coverage when you are younger rather than waiting until you have actually attained senior citizen status.
You do want to make sure that you have a full and comprehensive understanding of the details of your policy. To this end you may want to speak with a qualified elder law attorney before making decisions. This would include the decision to purchase the policy and the subsequent choice of facility if you do indeed need long-term care at some point in time.
There was recently a court ruling in the state of Kentucky that has gained the attention of many within the elder law community. A woman who purchased long-term care insurance in 1992 entered a facility that is focused on Alzheimer’s care in 2009.
Her policy had very specific details regarding the type of facility that would be covered, and the insurance company felt as though her choice did not fit into the stated parameters. As a result it did not pay for her care.
She filed a lawsuit and ultimately the court decided that the insurance company was quite explicit and unambiguous in its description of covered facilities. As a result the senior citizen lost the suit and the insurance company was not required to cover the long-term care costs.
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