If you have always had health insurance throughout your working career, you may go forward with a certain peace of mind. You will be protected financially if you run into health problems, and you would assume that this protection would continue after you obtain Medicare coverage when you reach the age of 65.
Medicare will certainly provide a good bit of coverage, but you have to understand the fact that Medicare does not pay for long-term care. People who are concerned about long-term care costs sometimes purchase long-term care insurance.
Long-term care insurance is rather expensive, and this is a drawback. The exact cost of the insurance will depend upon your age when you take out the coverage. As you would expect, the premiums are lower if you take out the insurance when you are relatively young. At the same time, you probably will not need long-term care until you reach an advanced age.
Medicaid and Long-Term Care Insurance
Medicaid is another government health insurance program, and it does pay for long-term care. To qualify, you must be able to prove that you have very limited resources in your own name, because the program is intended for people with financial need.
Many people give assets to their loved ones before they apply for Medicaid coverage to pay for long-term care. They essentially give their loved ones inheritances in advance, and this makes sense, because you probably will not need resources once you enter a nursing home.
Giving away assets to qualify for Medicaid is easier said and done, because there is a five-year look-back period. If you do not complete the gift giving at least five years before you apply for coverage, your application will be denied initially. A penalty will be imposed, and you will have to pay out of pocket while you serve out this penalty period.
To respond to this, you could potentially take out long-term care insurance so that you are covered during the five-year look-back. Once five years have passed after you completed the spend down, you could drop the coverage, and you would be covered by Medicaid if you need long-term care.
Medicaid Planning Report
You should educate yourself about long-term care costs and Medicaid planning when you are looking ahead toward the future. It is not a very pleasant reality to contemplate, but seven out of every 10 seniors will someday need living assistance. If you take the right steps in advance, you may be able to obtain Medicaid coverage at the ideal time while you get assets into the hands of your loved ones.
We have prepared an in-depth report on Medicaid planning, and it will provide you with a great deal of very useful information. The report is free, and you can visit this page to access your copy: Hartford CT Medicaid Planning.
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