As much as we all prefer not to dwell on the possibility, the reality is that we all stand a good chance of needing long-term care at some point during our retirement years. Knowing that, it makes sense to plan for the possibility within your estate plan. The Londonderry Medicaid planning attorneys at DeBruyckere Law explain five common long-term care planning steps.
- Evaluate your health. Although most people cannot predict the need for long-term care (LTC), evaluating your state of your health now may be helpful when creating a LTC plan. This is particularly true if you have any chronic conditions and/or a family history of serious health conditions. For example, if you already have diabetes or high blood pressure, or there is a strong family history of heart disease, it is logical to predict that you have a higher likelihood of needing LTC down the road. Those same health conditions could cause your insurance premiums to increase dramatically as you age.
- Look into LTC options and costs. While around the clock care in a nursing home is certainly one type of LTC, it is not the only type. Other options may include assisted living, community care, home health aides, and even family caregivers. Planning for LTC requires you to have some idea what that care will cost. Nationwide, the average cost of a year in LTC for 2020 was over $100,000.
- Make sure you understand your insurance options. As a senior, you will likely depend on Medicare to cover the majority of your health care costs. What you may not know is that Medicare will not cover your LTC expenses. Neither will most private health insurance policies. A separate LTC policy is an option; however, the premiums may be high and the covered may be less than you anticipated.
- Have an honest conversation with family members. Understandably, most seniors would prefer to age in place and not have to be moved to an LTC facility. Likewise, when you are older you would probably prefer a family member to care of you instead of a nurse. Before you assume that your family members are willing to help though, sit down and have a very honest discussion. If you have four children who all live close and each has room for you, the need to move to an LTC facility may be unlikely in your case. On the other hand, if three of those four children are scattered around the globe, and the fourth doesn’t appear to be willing/able to provide care, you may wish to focus more on planning for LTC.
- Incorporate Medicaid planning into your estate plan. The good news when it comes to long-term care planning is that Medicaid does cover LTC expenses. The bad news is that failing to plan ahead could put your assets at risk and/or result in your application for Medicaid being denied. Medicaid uses both income and asset limits when evaluating an application. If you own non-exempt assets valued above the limit, you may be forced to sell those assets (“spend-down”) and use the proceeds to pay your LTC costs. Only when those proceeds are gone will you qualify for Medicaid. Planning ahead, however, by incorporating Medicaid planning into your comprehensive estate plan can protect your hard-earned assets and set you up to be eligible for Medicaid if you need the benefits offered by the program in the future.
Contact Londonderry Medicaid Planning Attorneys
If you have additional questions or concerns, please contact the Londonderry Medicaid planning attorneys at DeBruyckere Law Offices by calling our New Hampshire office at (603) 894-4141 or our Massachusetts office (978) 969-0331 to learn more or visit our website at http://dadlawoffices.com .
The earlier, the better. Because of the Medicaid look-back rule it is always best to have Medicaid planning in place because you never know when you will need to qualify.
One excellent resource is the Medicare Compare tool found on the official Medicare website.
The average stay in a long-term care facility is three years; however, yours could be considerably less or considerably more. Even at an average of three years, a LTC stay could cost over $300,000 on average.
- What You Need to Know to Protect Your Special Needs Child - May 30, 2023
- How Tax and Non-Tax Considerations Impact Estate Planning – Part I - May 25, 2023
- The IRS’ Annual Warning: The 2023 Dirty Dozen - May 23, 2023
