If You’re Counting on Medicare or Medicaid to Cover Long-Term Care Costs During Retirement, You May Be in for Quite a Surprise

By Steve Elliott | October 27, 2020 | Comments Off on If You’re Counting on Medicare or Medicaid to Cover Long-Term Care Costs During Retirement, You May Be in for Quite a Surprise

As you’re moving through your 40’s, 50’s, or even into your 60’s, you may be building your retirement portfolio, saving as much you can, and planning for retirement. Perhaps you’ve never really given much thought to the possibility of long-term care.

Long-Term Care Insurance Premiums Encinitas CA - If You’re Counting on Medicare or Medicaid to Cover Long-Term Care Costs During Retirement, You May Be in for Quite a Surprise

Long-Term Care Insurance Premiums Encinitas CA – If You’re Counting on Medicare or Medicaid to Cover Long-Term Care Costs During Retirement, You May Be in for Quite a Surprise

You’re healthy, your spouse is healthy, you’re both fit, and you plan to travel a lot. Once retirement hits, that is. You can’t even, for the life of you, imagine experiencing a serious health issue that lands either one of you in the hospital and, more importantly, and a long-term care facility or requiring some type of extended care at home.

These things rarely ever cross our minds.

Only when a parent or other close relative is facing these types of situations do we begin to understand the importance of long-term care. Even then, though, we may not consider how it would affect us financially in the event either one of us require some type of long-term care.

Many people assume once they retire they will be eligible for Medicare or Medicaid. The two are completely different, even though they are managed by the same government agency, the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS).

Medicare is an insurance program that is federally run. Medicaid is operated on the state side with federal backing. If a person requires long-term care, Medicare may cover their hospital stay and the first few weeks of a nursing home, for example, but beyond that the individual would have to pay out-of-pocket or seek out other ways to pay.

Medicaid will cover certain types of long-term care, but only after that individual’s savings, retirement investments, and other assets are completely used up paying for it first. In other words, you would have to become almost poor before Medicaid would begin covering these types of expenses.

That’s why long-term care insurance is so important.

If you have any assets, including a primary residence, stock options, a portfolio, and so forth, and you want to protect it during your retirement years, you may want to consider long-term care insurance.

There are different types of policies you can look into and the earlier you begin a policy, the more affordable it is as far as a monthly premium is concerned. If you fly into your retirement years assuming that Medicare or Medicaid will cover your health costs or even long-term care, if it’s required, you could be in for quite the surprise and not the kind anyone really wants.

If you or a loved-one are considering Long-Term Care Insurance Premiums in Encinitas CA, please contact Steve Elliott at Capstone Insurance for an honest discussion about your future and your options. Call today (858) 350-3161.

Steve Elliott
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