FALSE ASSUMPTIONS RE; Who Pays For LONG-TERM CARE Many people are under the false assumption that they are currently covered for long-term care. However, Long-Term Care (LTC) Insurance is the only insurance designed to help cover the costs of long-term care services! Without LTC insurance, the likelihood is high that you will be responsible for paying most, if not all, of the costs of your long-term care services, out-of pocket. Even the best medical (HMO or PPO) insurance plan won't cover the costs of LTC services, because the HMO/PPO insurance plans focus on the shorter term, acute health care needs and not on the longer term chronic or custodial health care needs. Disability income insurance is generally about replacing lost income through age 65 and does not provide LTC insurance benefits. Medicare covers some care in nursing homes and at home. However, coverage is limited to 100 days and subject to restrictions. What Medicare doesn't pay, your Medicare Supplement policy won't pay either. Medicaid is a Welfare program. Medicaid will only pay once your "countable" assets are virtually exhausted. Additionally, the 2006 Federal Deficit Reduction Act denies Medicaid qualification to applicants who, within 5 years of their Medicaid application date, have transferred assets out of his/her estate as cash or trust gifts. IS LTC INSURANCE RIGHT FOR YOU? LTC Insurance is not right for everyone. Existing health conditions may prevent some people from obtaining LTC insurance coverge. For people currently on Medicaid (Welfare), LTC insurance is obviously not appropriate. However, if you are in fairly good health and you do have assets (at least $50,000) outside your home equity and you do have a comfortable income (in excess of $50,000/year), LTC insurance becomes an attractive alternative to self-insuring. A good rule of thumb, regarding the efficacy of LTC insurance, is that the annual premium you pay for LTC insurance will be less than the cost of ONE MONTH of Long-term care in a Nursing Home.  PAYING FOR LTC SERVICES : The five options to manage your LTC services' cost burdens are: 1.) You can self-insure and pay for your own long-term care with your own assets and income. 2.) You can transfer a predetermined amount of risk of long-term care expenses to an insurance company by purchasing LTC insurance. 3.) You can use a  Reverse Mortgage and/or a Life Settlement: Increasingly, seniors are funding the purchase of LTC insurance through Reverse Mortgages, thereby tapping the significant net equity in their homes. Seniors are also funding the purchase of LTC insurance from the proceeds of cashed-in life insurance policies through the new secondary market of "Life Settlements". In a "Life Settlement" transaction, a large institutional bank competitively purchases the "in-force" life policy and pays a cash settlement to the policy holder. In most "settlement" cases the net cash proceeds are greater than the acknowledged "policy cash value" of the issuing insurer. 4.) You can rely on others (spouse,children, etc.) to provide the help needed. This option is only available to those with a support system in place and if the amount and type of care required is possible for them to provide. 5.) You can spend down all of your assets and then qualify for Medicaid. WHEN IS THE BEST TIME TO PURCHASE LTC INSURANCE? The best time to buy LTC insurance is when your health is optimal, thus qualifying you for the most favored risk rate of pricing, and SOONER RATHER THAN LATER! Each year, that you wait, the annual cost of LTC insurance increases because you have to buy a higher daily benefit due to the fact that the cost of long-term care services have gone up by almost 6%. Each year, that you wait, you are a year older so your premium will increase. Each year, that you wait, you are at risk in the event you have a health change and cannot qualify for coverage.