Tennessee has a rapidly aging population and awareness of the need for Long Term Care Insurance remains low.  Long Term Care Insurance covers the cost of services such as nursing homes, in-home care and assisted-living care when one is unable to care for themselves and is not covered by regular health insurance and only by Medicaid if one qualifies, which can be difficult without exhausting all of your assets.  The Tennessee Long Term Care Partnership Program “is a partnership between state government and private insurance companies to assist individuals in planning their long-term care needs.  Insurance companies voluntarily agree to participate in the Partnership Program by offering long-term care insurance coverage that meets certain State and Federal requirements. Long-term care insurance policies [certificates] that qualify as Partnership Policies [Certificates] may protect the [policyholder’s] [certificateholder's] assets through a feature known as “Asset Disregard” under TennCare, Tennessee’s Medicaid program.”
A recent study found that 7 in 10 Americans have made no plans for long-term care and many were not even aware of this type of insurance and what it covers.  And, given that the Department of Health and Human Services estimates that 2/3 of all Americans will need long-term care at some point after they pass age 65, this does, indeed, constitute a problem to be reckoned with.  Many Americans, regardless of the State in which they live, are now at risk of having to exhaust their nest egg or rely on their children or other relative to care for them in retirement should they become unable to care for themselves.  Fortunately, innovative solutions like the Tennessee Long Term Care Partnership Program mean that you can tackle this problem yourself and prepare for a peaceful, secure retirement.

Residents of Tennessee are able to participate in the Tennessee Long Term Care Insurance Partnership Program via a number of policy options that meet certain State-mandated criteria.  Tennessee, like many states, aims to reward those who do their part in solving this problem of Long Term Care Insurance coverage by planning ahead and protecting themselves and their assets.  Basically, it works like this: those who purchase a qualifying partnership policy are eligible “Asset Disregard” which “means that an amount of the [policyholder’s] [certificateholder’s] assets equal to the amount of long-term care insurance benefits received under a qualified Partnership [Policy] [Certificate] will be disregarded for the purpose of determining the insured’s eligibility for Medicaid.”  So, you can keep what you’ve worked so hard to accumulate your whole life.

Highlights and requirements of the Tennessee Long Term Care Insurance Partnership program include:

In order for a policy to qualify as a Partnership Policy, it must, among other requirements:

• be issued to an individual after February 8, 2006;
• cover an individual who was a Tennessee resident when coverage first becomes effective under the policy;
• be a tax-qualified policy under § 7702(B)(b) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986;
• meet stringent consumer protection standards;
• and meet the following inflation requirements:For ages 60 or younger – provides compound annual inflation protection
• For ages 61 to 75 -provides some level of inflation protection
• For ages 76 and older – no purchase of inflation protection is required

The “annual inflation protection” requirements are critical here.  Inflation protection insures that your policy will pay out in tomorrow’s dollars and that your covered for the care you need.

You can start planning today for your future long-term care needs and securing all that you’ve worked so hard to achieve for your retirement by purchasing a Long Term Care Insurance policy.  LTC Tree can assist you in finding a plan through the Tennessee Long Term Care Insurance Partnership Program that is right for you, no matter your age or financial status.  If you’d like to learn more about our affordable Long Term Care Insurance policies, simply fill out this form.  Thank you for reading today’s blog.  We really appreciate it.