Planning for Georgia Long Term Care

Georgia spends about one-fourth of its Medicaid budget on long term care, but not all of its beneficiaries come from low-income families. There’s a big percentage of middle-class Georgians who don’t have Georgia long term care insurance (LTCI) policies so they depend on Medicaid, too. Growing old without a good retirement plan that is inclusive of LTCI coverage will put your finances on the line, especially when you start receiving long term care (LTC). You are free to think that you will never need this type of health care but mind you, 70% of today’s senior citizens who are 65 years old and older are receiving LTC. Meanwhile, about 40% of LTC patients come from the 18 to 64 age group according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Anyone can actually require LTC but it’s mostly the elderly folks who acquire it because as people age they lose the ability to function the way they used to. LTC is not provided to sick people but to those individuals who cannot perform the most ordinary activities of daily living (ADL) like eating, bathing, dressing, proper use of the toilet, maintaining continence, and transferring due to infirmity resulting from old age, disability or a chronic illness. When cooking one’s food, doing her own laundry and regular maintenance of her house become impossible due to functional limitations then LTC becomes imperative. There are only two ways that you can treat a possible LTC. The first is to come up with a good plan that will give you easy access to the best LTC facilities and home health care services. Your second option is to assume that your relatives will take care of you and drop all of their responsibilities and goals in life just to provide your needs. If you’re born to be selfish you’ll naturally choose the latter but if you value your dignity and principles you’ll think otherwise. Georgia Long Term Care Insurance Policies Additional living expenses. This is actually what runs in people’s heads when they are encouraged to purchase an LTCI policy. What they don’t grasp is the concept of asset protection which this type of insurance product offers. If you purchase your policy at 50 years old or at a younger age, and you’re health is perfect, you’ll be spending around $1,000 or less on the annual premium of your coverage. Your premium rate, however, can go higher if you would avail an LTCI rider that is offered to you, or it can go lower if you decide to cut back your maximum daily benefit amount, shorten your benefit period or if you lengthen your elimination period. Georgia also offers LTCI policies that qualify for the state’s Partnership Program. Such policies provide Medicaid asset protection which means the insured can apply for Medicaid eligibility after having used up his insurance benefits without spending down a portion of his assets that is equivalent to the amount of benefits paid out to him by his policy. As the cost of care continues to go up, it is definitely worth looking into a Georgia long term care insurance plan. Find time to research about it or better yet, contact an insurance agent who is authorized to market and sell LTCI policies in Georgia.