Health insurance
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Health insurance
| Sun, 02-08-2009 - 10:40pm |
DH and I have long term health insurance (aka nursing home insurance), originally provided for by my employer. When I retired we picked up the premiums. The premiums are going up this year. We are trying to decide whether to keep it. Any premiums must come out of our savings, not regular SS monthly checks. I think I've asked this before, but wondering if anyone has had experience with this, maybe with aging relatives. The policy has a lot of good in-home features, but we're wondering how many increases will be able to handle.
Jacquie

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Jacquie,
I don't have any experience with this type of insurance. My husband is retired Navy so he will for sure be taken care of if need be.
Not to be nosy, but does Navy cover home health care, hospice, nursing home? Our DS will retire from work with the State and is always bragging about his health insurance being paid for life. Turned out it was just health insurance (the usual MD visits, plus hospital expenses). It was not for long term care if needed.
With the state of the economy, I'd sure hate to depend on the government to pay for that kind of care. Our local nursing home is borrowing millions with high interest, as IL hasn't approved spending in over 6 months. They have stopped accepting Medicaid patients.
Jacquie
My parents were fortunate enough to be able to stay in their home...my dad died at home & my mom was only in a care facility for a few days after back surgery where she passed away.
Interesting subject.
Bea... very good input - what I was looking for. The current policy has unlimited lifetime benefits, but my suspicious nature figures they'll find a way not to pay.
My boss insisted on purchasing this for employees after his DM was in a nursing home for several years with dementia before dying in her early 80s. There was no question of letting her go, she just hung on strapped to a bed. She did not have that kind of insurance and he could afford to pay our of pocket for her to be in a top local facility. Other employees who left the company were young and didn't continue the coverage. I continued paying the premiums for this past year to get a feel for how this would affect our finances. The current premiums for both DH & I will be almost $5,000/year and I'm wondering how often it will increase as time goes by. The articles I've read say not everyone should consider LT insurance, especially if it means one would need to drastically alter lifestyle, such as cut back on prescription meds. We do want to make sure we have enough funds to pay for the Medicare supplemental policies, as they cover what Medicare doesn't quite well. I worry if we don't have the insurance if one of us is widowed. Having a partner sure helps when we're out of commission, doesn't it. Of course, paying for a year in a nursing home can be $40K and our savings sure wouldn't last long. Medicare will cover some nursing home care under certain conditions. Here's a link to pretty clear info for everyone to check out -
http://www.medicare.gov/Nursing/Payment.asp
Jacquie
Your folks were the perfect scenario we all hope for. I posted a link with clear info on my reply to Bea. I think a lot of folks are assuming Medicare will pay for everything, in or out of the hospital and that is a bad assumption. I'm also wondering if we should ask our DSs if they want to pay this premium to insure care later.
Jacquie
After seeing and paying some of the bills for our four parents, I'm all for long term care insurance.
lottie77~~~
We are in such a mess in this country with the health ins. Most people I know cannot afford the nursing home ins. I sure couldn't. I read a while back that most of us are only in that type of place for a couple of months. There is help out there for the long term.
I was lucky to have BC BS when my cancer came. They are not cheap, but have given me full coverage,after medicare. I just hope that they stay good.martha
Update..We decided to cancel the policies. We took into account our health and the health of our parents in later years and decided that we weren't likely to need years of medical care. I also made a spreadsheet of what annual expenses will need to be paid from our savings (vs. SS checks) and saw how our nest egg would dwindle rapidly with $6,000 of premiums each year. Plus, should one of us die, the other would only have 1 check to pay the basics, so would need to dip in the savings more. We will invest in whatever improvements might be needed to keep us living comfortable as long as possible in this house. Having both DSs and DGrKids within 20 miles makes it easier for us to ask for small assistance and not disrupt their lives too much, should the time come.
The other issue was being concerned if the company would even be around when we needed it. I handled the insurance contracts in my old job and recalled how many times companies changed hands. We could just picture some new company saying "sorry, that was your policy with the OLD company".
So, we're not going to try to leave much for the kids, just take care of ourselves as much as possible. We once again agreed that we will refuse treatment that will prolong the inevitable, not actually cure it.
Jacquie
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