I was reading an article today on the Kaiser Health News, by Howard Gleckman, entitled “Get Medicaid Out of the Long Term Care Business.” He makes several important points to all who are interested in long term insurance.

First, depending on Medicaid to care for one’s long term care needs is foolish indeed. With all the schizophrenic activity in Congress these days regarding proposed solutions to our national health insurance needs, it appears we all need to be acutely aware of our own personal health and long term care needs. And it appears that depending on any future Medicaid/Medicare assistance will be a road to nowhere.

Currently Medicaid is the #1 biggest single payer for long term care, spending $100 billion per year on nursing home care and nursing costs.  And please note that Medicaid pays only for inpatient care at a nursing home. It does not pay for such care in your own home, which in our experience is where almost all people would like to receive nursing care, if possible. And Medicare basically is not in the long term care business, paying only for those needed first 20 days after you have been discharged from a hospital.

Taking control of your own care is the key when you begin financial planning.  Relying on the government to come up with a sustainable plan is not wise based on their track record.  If you buy your own long term care insurance from a private company you’ll take control of your finances.  At LTC tree we work with all the top carriers and will shop the entire LTC market to save you money.  Please take a moment to fill in the form below.