Shields and Boris Blog on Elder Care, Health Care, and Caring in General

Paying for long-term care

The topic of paying long-term care is an important one for individuals and married couples to consider, preferably before the care is needed.  The risks of failing to plan for the future are huge: long-term care is becoming increasingly expensive, with more and more people exhausting their savings and finding themselves depending on Medicaid.

To prepare for the inevitable, please take the time to discuss your long-term care planning options with an experienced estate planning attorney.  You may be able to protect your assets in order to qualify for Medicaid without depleting your savings, and you may be eligible for veterans benefits that you did not know existed.

Ways to pay for your long-term care:

• Rely on your family to care for you
• Pay for care from your investments and savings accounts
• Purchase long-term care insurance
• Buy limited long-term care insurance
• Sell your life insurance policy at present value (life settlement)
• Sell your life insurance to a third party if you are chronically or terminally ill (viatical settlement)
• Add an accelerated death benefit to your life insurance policy
• If you have a large amount of equity in your home, take out a reverse mortgage
• Buy into a Continuing Care Retirement Community (CCRC)
• Explore all your veterans benefits options, even if you do not have a service related disability
• Use Medicaid if you qualify, or plan ahead to protect your assets so you can qualify for Medicaid without losing everything
• If your state offers it and you qualify, participate in one of the Programs of All-inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE)

Learn more by contacting the Wexford, PA offices of Shields and Boris today.