LTCi - who on here has it and HAS STARTED USING IT? (physically, state)
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I keep considering whether I should get LTCi. I'm in my 50's and have investigated....some policies are in the $300/month range as I'm in quite good health now (knock wood). But I have very real doubts of whether the coverage amount is enough, and whether the inflation amount is enough. Then, I fear huge premium increases that I'll either have to eat or have wasted all my earlier contributions. Finally, what if they were to decline / dispute needed coverages once I have to start using the policy?
I don't want so much to hear about why it is important to get it, whatever. Everyone seems to have supreme confidence in whatever plan they've gone with - of course, otherwise you'd never have done it and you have to bolster yourself up to pay into it for decades, right?
No - I want to hear from folks who paid in for a decade or two and are NOW MAKING CLAIMS. Did your premiums go up since you started the policy? Are you having trouble getting out what you put in? Are you glad you got it?
many here who have it are likely still to young to be in that range . only about 1/2 the boomers even hit 65
Agreed, that us why I started a thread and commented in others. Forum members actually using LTC for themselves is probably very limited here and there are very few of us in CCRC's. Like the OP I am anxious to hear from personal experiences not about parents and grands. Probably in a decade or so we will have folks.
We got our updated benefits statement yesterday and as a result I was wondering the same as the OP. Hopefully this thread will be a long lasting one
many here who have it are likely still to young to be in that range . only about 1/2 the boomers even hit 65
Well, I'm even willing to settle for hearing about the experience of parents or PILaws? Maybe older brothers and sisters? But only if you know some of the details...
I have LTCi. I purchased it more than 2 decades ago and the price was low I have had my first premium increase this year. I am close in age to you, consequently, the odds are pretty low that I will need LTC in the immediate future. However, nothing is set in stone.
I've bought Homeowners insurance since I was age 20. I've never used it either. I've bought auto insurance and have gone years without using it (knock wood).
My former FIL had LTCi. He moved into assisted living (and should have stayed there) because he needed the extra help. His LTCi would have covered part of the expense. It was a lot of years ago and I can't remember exact figures. However, he did not want to be in assisted living. He thought it was depressing, so after 1 month he moved into an apartment. He died alone in that apartment as he had stopped eating (he was anorexic) and this was his method of suicide. I have always believed that it was a poor decision to live alone and that he would have lived a happier, longer life utilizing the LTC offered. But it was not my life or my decision.
My former MIL (his wife) had cancer. She was in a nursing home for the last several years of her life. She also had LTCi which took care of most of the expenses. Thus, my FIL was not bankrupted by his wife's needs.
My former neighbors do not have LTCi. His wife is an invalid and has been for at least the 7 years that we lived next to them. He cannot afford much care for her. Two times a week he has a visiting nurse come to the house for an hour. Other than that he is tied to her side caring for her as he doesn't not have enough assets to purchase the care she needs. He has told me he feels a lot of stress and is physically unable to perform all that he needs to do. He is in his upper 80's. His son is 65 and provides no help.
The decision is can you afford the costs of the insurance.
The next question is can you afford to self insure part or all of the cost of care.
Do you belong to an organization that offers long term care policies on a group basis. In my organizations group I had one small increase in probably 10 to 15 years. Very lucky as costs have skyrocketed.
If you can find a policy with a history of very small increases I would start to consider a policy. Think of a low daily amount that increases each year with inflation. Thus as time passes your coverage increases.
Well, I'm even willing to settle for hearing about the experience of parents or PILaws? Maybe older brothers and sisters? But only if you know some of the details...
older policy's were quite poor , ambiguous and really were not bought much .
older policy's were quite poor , ambiguous and really were not bought much .
I'm not finding the current stuff any better. You can't do much of your own research online in terms of specifics...I had to set an appt. for a Skype session where a representative of several different insurers walked me through things. But I don't take any of that at face value - I want to read the fine print of what will and won't be covered, etc. So, it feels like it is almost completely blind faith - pay as much as I can afford today...keep paying for 40 years. I don't care if I never use it - but my biggest nightmare is to have paid for decades, with numerous premium increases - wind up in bad shape and end up with few services actually paid for.
So I do not personally know anyone who has made a claim under their policy...I know I have not. A number of months ago Jim Cramer of CNBC fame had a very unsatisfactory experience in getting his father's LTC insurer to pay on his claim. He wrote about it rather extensively....here is a link to one of those references: https://www.thestreet.com/story/1296...-best-one.html
Obviously, you will have to decide if his complaints have any validity.
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