Financial Foundations

Most long-term care policies will pay a preset amount of an insured’s long-term care costs when the insured is certified by a licensed health care practitioner as a “chronically ill individual.” To be certified as a chronically ill individual the insured must either (1) require substantial supervision to protect himself or herself from threats to health [...]

It seems that everywhere we turn today we hear more and more about long-term care and long-term care insurance. It has been a regular topic of magazine and newspaper articles, and a recent topic of discussion throughout health care and financial circles. Why are so many members of the media, the government and other groups discussing [...]

It is a common assumption that Medicare will help pay for long-term care. Many people have worked towards retirement assuming that should they need long-term care at some point in the future, they could count on Medicare to help pay the bill. Medicare is health insurance for people over the age of 65, long-term care is [...]

Medicaid will cover the cost of some types of long-term care, but to qualify one must meet Medicaid’s strict income and asset eligibility requirements. Medicaid was designed as a resource for individuals who could not otherwise pay for their own medical needs. It was not designed to act as a national long-term care financing tool. Medicaid [...]