Preparing For Long Term Care Costs

People who are relatively young and healthy would not bother preparing for long term care because they are too idealistic in believing that they will not suffer from a debilitating illness or disability that might drastically affect their lives and finances. They assume that Medicare or Medicaid – the country’s health care program—will shoulder all the long term care expenses, but, unfortunately, thiat is just a delusion. Medicare spares scanty coverage only for the qualified beneficiaries.

The threats of long term care are burdensome as the costs of both institutional and residential care escalate at very high rates every year, this come into question how people would be able to afford the cost of care when everything seems skewed and unreasonable. Therefore, preparing for long term care costs is key to avoid any discomforts in your later years and to prevent your resources from becoming frittered from such costly care. These are just some ways to prepare for long term care costs:

Monthly check ups will count.   As you age, you become more prone to sicknesses particularly age-related illnesses such as Alzheimer or dementia. One way to avoid costly nursing home care is to get few trips to your doctor for consultation or checkups. As this cliché rings true, “prevention is better than cure,” you should anticipate the possible health problems and do something to prevent it from becoming worse. This way, you will save money and avoid unlikely health problems.

Consider Long Term Care Insurance. Long term care insurance is incredibly pricey, but it pays off. Many people rescind getting long term care insurance for some financial reasons. It’s a common blunder to throw judgment based on the price – yes, long term care insurance could be outlandishly costly, but don’t you think staying uninsured is riskier? Long term care insurance only requires tact and good decision making skills to identify what needs to be covered and, most of all, save money. You surely don’t want to pay earlier, but you also don’t want to get a coverage just in time when you have pre-existing condition that may affect your premiums. Financial planners suggest buying insurance in mid 40 because most health problems appear in 50s or 60s.

Consider what your LTCi should cover. Most insurance companies offer flexible policies to meet individual needs. You can freely choose how long the insurance will pay out, the type of facility, and the amount you are willing to pay. There are different features that you may customize to fully protect your health and, of course, savings. There are three main features namely elimination period, benefit amount, and inflation protection that can all affect the overall policy. In determining the elimination period, always consider how much you can shoulder for your own care and count the total expenses. A good elimination period is 60 to 90 days. The elimination benefit should depend entirely on how much you really need for your care either on daily or monthly basis. The inflation protection boosts your premiums cost so it could play safe with the creeping costs of care. Find out the costs of long term care in your area and seek advice from financial experts to make the most out of your coverage

Do not rely heavily on Medicare. Not everything you have thought of a decent senior years in a nursing home or in your own home could be granted. Medicare does not solely pay for the nursing home expenses of about a million Americans.