Click on the link below for a simplified one page tax summary. This summary shows the tax deductibility of LTC premiums for individuals and various business strutures:
For additional information contact James Roskopf at 469-443-3489 or at jroskopf@insurica.com
Is your estate valued at $500,000? Are you willing to spend $5,000 per year to protect that estate? Are you willing to spend $2,500 per year to protect that estate? How much would you spend to protect a $1,000,000 estate?
State government budget deficits may mean the closure of nursing homes that serve Medicare eligible residents. Do you believe your children will look after you?
You don’t have that many options to protect your estate and manage your care. Long Term Care Insurance is a viable alternative. Whether you obtain a stand alone policy or some combination of life insurance and LTC coverage, there are affordable options to protect you.
Contact James Roskopf at 469-443-3489 or by email at jroskopf@insurica.com for additional information.
What’s your real risk of needing Long Term Care? How long do claims last? What are the top causes of a LTC claim? What are the claim differences by age and sex?
Obtain a free copy of a report entitled “Long Term Care Insurance Protection: Real Data To Help You Plan.” This is an objective look at the causes of claims and the cost of care. Contact James Roskopf at 469-443-3489 or by email at jroskopf@insurica.com
You can pay $700 annually for a quality long-term care insurance policy. You can also pay $7,000 a year.
A new report provides insights that can help individuals pay less for long term care insurance coverage. People mistakenly believe that long-term care insurance costs thousands of dollars, states James Roskopf, Vice President of Guaranty Insurance Services, Inc. located in Plano, Texas.
A significant number of individuals today pay between $15 and $20 a week for this protection. That’s a highly affordable way to protect $150,000 to $250,000 of future care, he notes.
Some 200,000 new long-term care insurance buyers who purchased coverage over the past year were studied by the American Association for Long-Term Care Insurance, the national trade organization. Among buyers under age 61, over one-fourth (27.8%) paid less than $999-per-year.
What you pay for long-term care insurance is based on things you can control and factors you cannot change the report explains Mr. Roskopf. You can control and make protection highly affordable by comparing coverage, by taking advantage of discounts and by looking at newer options that were not available a few years ago, Mr. Roskopf explains.
Age at the time of application plays an important role in determining the cost for long-term care insurance the Association study reports. While 47.2 percent of buyers under age 61 pay less than $30 a week, only 21.5 percent of buyers who are ages 61-to-75 pay within this range. The typical buyer today is in their 50s, Mr. Roskopf notes. That’s when you can lock-in lower costs and more important qualify for significant health discounts that you don’t lose when your health changes.
Fewer than one in 10 (6.8%) of buyers under age 61 paid $4,000 or more yearly for their insurance protection the report indicates, while 15.6 percent of buyers between 61 and 75 paid this much.
Mr. Roskopf a local long-term care insurance professional suggests five often overlooked tips that can help individuals significantly reduce the cost of insurance coverage.
1. Leverage Your Good Health: Insurers require that you meet certain health qualifications to obtain coverage. Discounts are provided to those in good health and 62 percent of applicants between ages 40-49 qualified. The percentage drops to 46% for ages 50-59 and only 38% for ages 60-69.Once obtained, the preferred health discount is not lost when your health changes.
2. Mind Your Birthday: Rates for this insurance are age-based and priced to remain level. Costs will increase each year you wait to apply, generally about eight percent annually for each year you delay. The new rate applies on your birthday. Some insurers will accept the lower rate so long as the application is signed on your birthday but it’s smartest to start the process about 60 days prior to an upcoming birthday.
3. Right-Size Your Coverage: Some long-term care insurance is always better than none, Mr. Roskopf notes. Factor in other sources of income such as Social Security, pension and 401k plans that can pay costs and allow you to add money-saving options such as a 90-day deductible (Elimination Period) or consider a limited-pay plan with a Shared Care option that allows two spouses to share a common benefit pool.
4. Compare Coverage: Each insurer establishes it’s own rates, health standards and available discounts. As a result, virtually equal protection from two highly-rated insurers can vary by between 30 and 80 percent. Ask your insurance professional if they have access to policies from just one or from multiple insurers.
5. Check Insurer Ratings: While some individuals start to use their long-term care insurance within a year or two of purchasing coverage, most will not need benefits for many years. Therefore, it is vital to select a company with good ratings as you want to make certain they have the financial strength to be there when you ultimately need benefits.
Experts explain that if you are in perfect health and take no or few medications, you will not face problems obtaining this protection. If you have a health condition or have had one in the past, the best way to reduce the cost of long-term care insurance is by working with a knowledgeable professional. Make sure they shop the market to leverage your current and prior health conditions.
For additional information please contact James Roskopf at 469-443-3489 or by email at jroskopf@insurica.com
A free guide describes new IRS tax deductibility rules and limits pertaining to long-term care insurance policies. Copies of the 2011 guide are being made available by Mr. James Roskopf, long-term care planning specialist.
“Most people are not aware that long-term care insurance is now a potential tax-deduction”, explains Mr. Roskopf, of Guaranty Insurance Services, Inc. located in Plano, Texas. “An individual between the age of 40 and 50 may be able to deduct $640 this year (2011), while someone who is more than 70 might qualify for a $4,240 tax deduction.”
The federal government and a growing number of states are offering tax incentives to encourage individuals and small business owners to plan for the risk of needing costly long-term care. Little if any of this care is covered by Medicare or individual health insurance plans.
To request a free mailed copy of the Guide To Tax-Qualified Long-Term Care Insurance call James Roskopf at 469-443-3489 or email him at jroskopf@insurica.com
The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) also known as ObamaCare is in limbo due to a variety of court decisions. However, there is still the possibility that all or parts of the program will be implemented. The CLASS program is a Long Term Care insurance program included in PPACA. Depending on this program for your long term care needs is problematic at best. Please note comments in a memo dated January 8, 2010, from Richard S. Foster, Chief Actuary for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid:
In general, voluntary, unsubsidized, and non-underwritten insurance programs such as CLASS face a significant risk of failure as a result of adverse selection by participants. Individuals with health problems or who anticipate a greater risk of functional limitation would be more likely to participate than those in better-than-average health. Setting the premium at a rate sufficient to cover the costs for such a group further discourages persons in better health from participating, thereby leading to additional premium increases. The effect has been termed the “classic assessment spiral” or “insurance death spiral”. Although Title VIII includes modest work requirements in lieu of underwriting, and specifies that the program is to be “actuarially sound” and based on “an actuarial analysis of the 75-year costs of the program that ensures solvency throughout such 75-year period”, there is a very serious risk that the problem of adverse selection would make the CLASS program unsustainable.
What is a partnership policy?
With the purchase of a partnership policy, a consumer can become eligible for Medicaid coverage after using the insurance benefits without having to exhaust his or her own assets to qualify for such coverage. Assets equal to the amount expended by the insurance policy are not considered countable assets for purposes of Medicaid eligibility and are exempt from the Medicaid estate recovery provisions. (One significant caveat: Those with home equity exceeding $500,000 are not eligible for Medicaid even with a Partnership policy, although states may increase that ceiling to $750,000.)
Contact Jim Roskopf for more information on Long Term Care Insurance programs at 469-443-3489 or at jroskopf@guarantyins.com
Listen to my podcast as I discuss LTC options.
