Covering Expenses

One of the biggest issues for aging parents and their families is the cost of housing and services.

Nursing home stays are covered by Medicare for a limited period of time only if they are for rehabilitative care immediately after a hospital stay. Medicaid pays only after a person has spent almost all of his or her assets.

Long-term care insurance (LTC) can provide a more comfortable future.

• Every day for a predetermined number of years negotiated when the policy is opened, LTC pays about $100 for nursing home care and about $50 for home services, and sometimes certain costs for assisted living facilities and adult day care.
• The key is to sign up early. Once you buy, your premium stays fixed. But every year you delay purchasing a policy, the rates jump about 8%. For healthy 50-year-olds, a typical policy is $800 a year. At 65, it’s $1,800. At 75, $5,900.
• Be sure to get inflation protection, especially if you open the policy at a younger age.