Long Term Care Insurance New York
Long Term Care Insurance pros and cons
By Laura Medigovich
As a financial planner, part of my job is to help clients navigate the less glamorous aspects of retirement. When it comes to the retirement
conversation, mostly everyone wants to plan for the freedom to pick up and travel to exotic locations. But when the talk turns to long-term care,
suddenly clients get a bit uneasy. The concept that "it's not going to happen to me" is common. However, according to the U.S. Department of
Health and Human Services www.longtermcare.gov, about 70 percent of people over 65 will require some long-term care in their lifetime, and the probability increases with age. The above-mentioned Web site is a great
resource for further information on long-term care planning.
Long-term care insurance is similar to car insurance in that you never want
to use it, but everyone should have it. By taking the appropriate planning steps in advance, you limit the anxiety that uncertainty can cause and
replace it with the comfort of knowing that you and your loved ones are taken care of, no matter what the future holds.
Long-term care focuses on helping patients maintain as much
independence as possible, while providing assistance for tasks that they are no longer able to perform themselves. The need for long-term care is
usually triggered by the inability to perform a number of the activities of daily living, which include bathing, dressing, toileting, transferring to and from a bed or chair, eating and dressing.
The majority of my clients want to stay in their homes for as long as possible. The good news is that long-term care policies today provide for all progressive stages of care, ranging from the most independent home
health care to adult day care, assisted living and, if necessary, nursing home care.
New York state has been at the forefront of helping residents plan for long
-term care by establishing the Partnership for Long Term Care program. The program provides for protection of some or all of your assets if you purchase and maintain LTCI that meets the New York State Partnership
minimum standards and your care exceeds your coverage. For more details, go to www.nyspltc.org .
For help in planning for your individual long-term care needs, talk with a
financial consultant or financial planner at your financial institution.
Laura Medigovich is a financial planner and assistant vice president for M&T Bank's Hudson Valley
region. Her column appears Wednesdays.
|
