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Group
Short Term Disability Insurance (also known as weekly
income, WI, STD)
Coverage is generally provided upon the first day of
an accident, or upon the eighth day of an illness for
a period of 13, 26, or 52 weeks. Usually benefits are
for 66 2/3% of salary, but different benefit percentages
are available with different companies and in different
situations. Definitions of disability vary with different
insurance companies.
Group Long Term Disability Insurance (LTD)
Coverage is provided for longer periods of time than
with Short Term Disability, typically two years, five
years, to age 65 or for life. Elimination periods (also
called waiting periods) are longer generally than with
STD. This is the time one must wait once disabled before
benefits begin. Disability definitions are critical
in evaluating these plans.
For your employer guide to Disability Insurance click here
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Ever consider what would happen in the event you could
no longer take care of your most basic daily activities?
What if you needed help eating, dressing or bathing yourself?
Click
here for a free quote on a long term care plan designed
just for you
If
your business is not located in Maryland, Click Here.
1) What is Long-Term Care?
2) What are the chances you will need Long-Term
Care?
3) How much does Long-Term Care cost?
4) Does Medicare or Medicare Supplement
Policies cover Long-Term Care expenses?
5) Does Medicare or Medicare Supplement
Policies cover Assisted Living Facilities?
6) Do you need Long-Term Care Insurance?
7) What is the most significant change
in Medicare since 1966?
8) What is the DRG payment system?
9) What is Custodial Care?
10) Why do people buy Long-Term Care Insurance?
For your Employer Guide To Long-Term Care Insurance
click here
Medicare does a good job for most people, in most situations.
However, due to the changing healthcare delivery system
in America today it has left some people with the feeling
of getting the short end of the stick. The following
information will show you why this is happening, and
what you can do to make sure you don't get the short
end of the stick.
Does Medicare or my Medicare Supplement
Policy cover long-term care expenses?
Coverage is very limited. Medicare's skilled nursing
facility benefit (SNF) only covers up to 100 days in
a nursing home, and it is very difficult to qualify
for this benefit. You must have been:
1) In a Medicare approved facility
2) Hospitalized for 3 days or more before you enter
the facility, and
3) Enter the facility within 30 days after your hospital
discharge
Most people who enter nursing homes
do so to receive Custodial Care which is not
covered by Medicare or by Medicare Supplement Policies.
Custodial Care is care that could be performed by someone
without any professional skills or training. The only
kind of care that Medicare covers is Skilled Care
or Rehabilitative Care.
Medicare and Medicare Supplements do
not cover assisted living facilities.
Medicare does not cover homemaker services or home health
aides to give you personal care unless you are homebound
and are also getting skilled care.
The most significant change in Medicare
since 1966
is that Medicare now pays through the use of DRGs
(Diagnostic Related Groups). Medicare pays the hospital
a pre-determined set amount for any given illness or
procedure, which has led the hospitals to limit the
amount of time they will allow you to stay in your hospital
bed. These Medicare cuts have forced elderly patients
out of the hospital too fast. Many seniors end up having
to go right back in the hospital again shortly after
they are sent home.
Many surgeries and procedures are now performed on an
outpatient basis, where you won't even get to stay overnight.
You may have to go home the same day of surgery, regardless
if you have someone at home to help you or not. While
you are recovering at home you may need assistance with
meal preparation, cleaning, shopping, bill paying, doing
laundry, you until you are These cuts have helped Medicare
save money. That is the good news. The bad news is that
these cuts have hurt many people who are on Medicare
where you can loose everything. You can loose your home,
your savings or be a burden on your children.
Long-term care expense can be the largest
expense you will ever have to pay in your lifetime.
It can cost more than your college education. The cost
can be larger than any home you have ever bought. It
could cost more than any car you have ever purchased,
and more than any vacation you have taken. However,
most people choose to not even think about this expense
until the time comes to start writing checks.
Most estimates are that approximately 50% of all
Americans who reach age 65 will need some type of long-term
care.
Nursing home expense is the #1 single largest
out-of-pocket expense for Medicare's beneficiaries comprising
81% of all health care expenses.
Where would you rather recuperate after a hospital stay?
In a nursing home, a friends' home, children's home,
a relatives home, your own home? Which would you prefer?
How much does Long-Term Care cost?
The current cost for a home health aide ranges from
$9 to $18 per hour. If a home health aide came to your
home three times a week for a year, with each visit
lasting three hours, it would cost you about $8,400.
The average cost for assisted living facilities in the
Baltimore/Annapolis and surrounding areas is approximately
$2,750 per month, or more than $33,000 per year.
The cost for nursing home care depends on the amount
and type of care you need and where you get it. The
average cost in Maryland is about $4,500 per month,
or more than $53,500 per year.
The single most important financial decision the
average retired person has to make is deciding….
HOW TO PAY FOR LONG-TERM CARE. If you
had to start writing checks for $4,500 per month, in
addition to your own regular living expenses, how many
months would you be able to continue writing those checks
before you had to start making some hard financial decisions?
Click here for a free quote on a long term care plan
designed just for you
Planning ahead makes a difference!
Planning ahead will keep you financially sound, providing
you with more choices and more control should you require
long term care. The secure retirement you and your family
have been looking forward to can be assured, but only
if you act.
IMPORTANT NOTE:
Once you have decided to use long term care insurance
as a means of protecting assets, preserving choices,
and assuring your family's lifestyle, it is important
to obtain coverage at the earliest possible time. The
cost of waiting is high. Long term care insurance premiums
are based upon your age at the time you apply for coverage
as well as your health history. If you need this protection,
you need to act now.
How can I find out more?
Please Click Here to contact
us to learn more about how Long-Term Care Insurance
can help you plan for your future.
What is Long-Term Care?
Long-term care is the day-in, day-out assistance you
need when you have a serious illness or disability that
lasts for a period of time and you are not able to take
care of yourself. Long-term care refers to a wide range
of services and may include home health care, adult
day care, care in an assisted living facility, respite
care, continuing care communities and in nursing homes.
The level of care may be skilled or intermediate, but
most frequently is at a custodial or personal level
of care. 95% of the people who reside in nursing homes
are receiving custodial care. The need for custodial
care may be the result of an injury, illness, chronic
condition or the frailty of aging where a person requires
assistance with activities of daily living (ADLs) such
as bathing, dressing, feeding, mobility, toileting,
taking medications or continence.
What is Long-Term Care Insurance?
Long-term care insurance is designed to protect your
savings in the event you need long-term care - - and
not just in a nursing home or an Assisted Living Facility.
The policies we offer from the leading long-term care
insurers can also cover this care in your own home.
It can even pay your family members who meet certain
qualifications for providing this care.
Do you need long-term care insurance?
Not everyone needs long term care insurance. If you
have limited assets, then Medicaid and community based
programs may effectively meet your long-term care needs.
If you do have assets to protect, then you probably
would not qualify for Medicaid or community based programs.
If you want to maintain your independence, and if you
want to have the most choices as to where, when, and
how care is provided, then long-term care insurance
may be your best answer.
Why do people buy long-term care
insurance?
- Assures
independence
- Helps
protect your family
- Provides
you with choices
- Helps
protect your retirement savings, property and family
assets
- Gives
you peace of mind
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Click
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Medicare
Supplement Insurance
(Medigap) is available in only ten standardized plans
lettered A through J. The plans were developed by the
National Association of Insurance Commissioners and incorporated
into state and federal law. Plan A consists of only the
"basic" benefit package, while the other nine
plans include the basic package plus different combinations
of additional benefits. Plan A has the least amount of
benefits, and Plan J has the most benefits.
The
benefits are the same regardless of which company is
offering the coverage ( example - Plan C with the ABC
company is exactly the same as Plan C with the XYZ company).
This is to make it easier for you to compare Medicare
Supplement policies.
There
are three types of rate structures for Medicare Supplement
Insurance: 1) Issue age, the rates are based
on your age at the time the policy is issued and will
not increase due to age change 2) attained age,
the rates are based on your attained age and will increase
due to age changes, and 3) community age, everyone
in the area pays the same rate regardless of age.
During
your open enrollment period you are guaranteed acceptance
in any one of the ten standardized plans of your choice.
Your open enrollment period is the six-month period
before and after your sixty-fifth birthday.
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