Statistically speaking, most of us will need long-term care at some point in our lifetime. Usually, this will occur later in life. Because of this, many people delay thinking about it or planning for it. The cost of long-term care, however, may surprise you. It may even shock you because it is so high and continues to climb. Some may be operating under the mistaken belief that Medicare will cover the cost of long-term care. This is simply not the case. While Medicare may provide very limited coverage for a shorter stay in a nursing home, it will not provide long-term care coverage. The earlier you begin planning for long-term care, the more options you have to help cover this expense while putting critical protections in place for your assets and life savings.
Why You Should Plan for Long-Term Care As Soon As Possible
As the years pass by, your options for long-term care planning may dwindle. For instance, you may wish to purchase long-term care insurance to cover the costs of long-term care when the need arises. As you age, however, you become less and less likely to be approved for long-term care insurance. Certain medical diagnoses can also bar you from accessing such insurance. The longer you wait, therefore, the less likely you are to be able to purchase long-term care insurance.
Furthermore, there is also Medicaid to consider. While Medicare will not cover the costs of long-term care, Medicaid does. You may be aware, however, that Medicaid has strict qualification requirements. As a need based government program, Medicaid has serious restrictions on the amount of assets and access to financial resources an applicant has in order to qualify for benefits. In far too many cases, a person will enter a long-term care facility without proper plans in place and see their life savings quickly be erased by the costs of the facility. Only after the person’s assets have dwindled significantly will Medicaid kick in and cover the costs of care.
With a strong long-term care plan in place, you will not have to lose your life savings before qualifying for Medicaid. There are legal tools you can use to qualify for Medicaid while protecting your assets. Properly structured irrevocable trusts, for instance, can be valuable tools for this purpose. Your plans, however, must be executed sooner rather than later. Medicaid has a five year lookback period. This means that any transactions that took place within the five years preceding your need for long-term care may be subject to a costly penalty and delay your receipt of Medicaid benefits.
Estate Planning Attorney
Start planning for long-term care now. The earlier you begin, the more options you are likely to have. At Monk Law, we want everyone to have long-term care in place. We want you and your loved ones to benefit from the peace of mind that comes with putting such important plans in place. Contact Monk Law today.