Medicare Supplements and Long Term Care...

As we near the time to use our Social Security and Medicare benefits that we have paid into all of our working lives we find ourselves alone, with no help to navigate the maze of choices except for a wheelbarrow full of advertisements and maybe a neighbor, or a relative.   Even though that neighbor, or a relative might have good intentions, they are no substitute for the expert help of an advisor.   Your local Social Security office is able to answer very basic questions, provide forms if needed, and administrate, but they are not there for financial advice or your personal consultation. 

Medicare only pays for 20 days of skilled nursing; then you (or your Medicare Supplement / Healthplan) will pay a substantial co-pay per day for days 21-100.   After that you are on your own.  As we get older we tend to take advantage of our medical providers and services much more frequently, and whether it is from natural causes or an injury, it takes us much longer to recover than when we were younger.  Many people do not realize that they only have about three months of skilled nursing benefits, and then they are on their own.   Just to give you an idea, if a person required six months of rehab and their current plan only paid for around half of it they could have to cough up around sixteen thousand dollars...

A family could be left short of money, not because they used their money foolishly and spent it unwisely, but because the state will force them to use their money to cover the cost of their extended care until they reach the financial resource limits to have Medicaid take over.   The average cost of long term care is over seventy thousand dollars a year. 

If a family member is in need of extended medical care in excess of what their coverage allows, and the family owns anything, they will be held responsible for the cost.   On March 1, 2005, Texas implemented an asset recovery program in compliance with federal law.   If a family member needs extended care, by circumstances beyond their control, Social Services can take over certain assets to pay for the care and go back 5 years for most asset classes.   Many people have been devastated by these unexpected costs.   Some are surprised to find themselves without help until they are forced to spend down nearly all of their assets.

Although we are all different as individuals, most of the things that happen to us in our lives are not.  During our lifetime we all will have some varying degree of injury or illness and we all will pass some day.   Regardless of what age we are, not being properly prepared for these things can be devastating.   Over 40% of all claims for long-term care benefits are from people under age 65.  Over 70% of all people over age 65 will need long-term care at some point. 

We have been helping people in the central Texas area for more than 27 years protect what they have "worked for" their entire lives.   If you would like to visit, and go through the fact finding process we would be willing to take the time to help you learn about your alternatives.