Here’s the Bottom Line: You really have only two choices:
1. You can be very wealthy and can be able to self-insure yourself and your spouse. And if this is the case, you could take advantage of shifting the burden of long-term care expenses to an insurance company. I mean, this is what you have done by purchasing homeowners’ insurance. 2. You can be so poor that the state will pay for your nursing home care expenses, but only after you have spent down your assets and proven your poverty, and you need to be very aware of Medicaid fraud. And finally, you can be a middle-income family and be insured during a time of long-term care services and allow an insurance company to pay for long-term care. This is the smartest means of transferring risk. I have spent most of this chapter dealing with the expense of long-term care, but what about the emotional issues that arise from this awful experience? The person needing long-term care assistance may go through emotional stress, but so can those who take the responsibility of caring for that person 24/7. It can be tremendous emotional stress on an entire family. There are solutions, but you must make decisions prior to becoming uninsurable. One more thought . . . if you are now eligible for Medicare, please, please be sure that you have 100% coverage with a good Medicare Supplement. A catastrophic illness can devastate a family’s assets in a hurry. Be sure you have all the bases covered before it’s too late. Again, you need to have a good Medicare Supplement, and I believe the best cure for the problem of long-term care is life insurance with LTC or Critical Illness riders built into the policy. Many companies do not charge a rider fee unless you have a need. This is better than paying premiums for years and years and never having a need for LTC or Critical Illness.
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