Shopper's Guide To Long Term Care Insurance
Medicaid is able to help. Some assets and income can be protected for a spouse who
remains at home. In addition, some of your assets may be protected if you have long term
care insurance approved under one of the state long-term care insurance
partnership programs.
State laws differ about how much money and assets you can keep and be eligible
for Medicaid. (Some assets, such as your home, may not count when deciding if you
are eligible for Medicaid.) However, federal law requires your state to recover from
your estate the costs of the Medicaid-paid benefits you receive.
Contact your state
Medicaid office, office on aging or department of social services to learn about the
rules in your state. The insurance counseling program in your state also may have some Medicaid information.
Long Term Care Insurance
Long term care insurance is one other way you may pay for long-term care. This
type of insurance will pay or reimburse you for some or all of your long-term care. It
was introduced in the 1980s as nursing home insurance but has changed a lot and now
covers much more than nursing home care. The rest of this Shopper’s Guide will give
you information on long term care insurance.
You should know that a federal law, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, or HIPAA, gives some federal income tax advantages to
people who buy certain long term care insurance policies.
These policies are called
Tax-Qualified long term care insurance Contracts, or simply Qualified Contracts. The
tax advantages of these policies are outlined on page 15. There may be other tax
advantages in your state.
You should check with your state insurance department or insurance counseling program for information about tax-qualified policies. Check with your tax advisor to find out if the tax advantages make sense for you.
Long Term Care Insurance Shoppers Guide Table of Contents
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