Have you devised a plan to pay for your health care costs in retirement? If you live in Texas, did you know that just one year of nursing home care costs more than $65,000? Are you prepared to cover that kind of cost should you suddenly need care? If not, a program exists in your state to help you plan.
Help Planning for Long Term Care
The Texas Long Term Care Partnership Program helps encourage long term care planning across the state of Texas. Long term care is becoming an especially important issue in our nation as we are living longer than ever and health care is becoming more advanced every year. Couple this changes and we are faced with individuals living with disabilities and chronic diseases that would have essentially been their demise had they been seniors just a few short decades ago. Now, however, people can live longer even with chronic illness. Many times, though, they require some type of extended care for that situation.
The cost of health care in retirement isn’t something to be taken lightly. A Fidelity study conducted last year found that the average 65-year-old couple retiring in 2013 will need $220,000 to cover their combined health care expenses during retirement. The most frightening part about this statistic? It doesn’t include the cost of long term care, which as you may know, can be astronomical.
Avoiding Financial Burden
Nursing home care isn’t the only huge cost that comes with long term care. Assisted living facilities are quite costly, too, averaging more than $42,000 for a year of care in Texas. Home health care costs about the same. If you haven’t developed a plan to cover these costs, you may be stuck on your own when the time comes that you need assistance. Instead of waiting to plan until you actually need care, taking the time to plan in advance can save you money and an emotional headache.
By planning ahead for the cost of care, you can help eliminate the chance that you will be forced to pay for care out of pocket or turn to a loved one to rely on for unpaid care. Instead, you can actually help create a separate pool of money that will cover the cost of care by purchasing Long Term Care Insurance.
Long Term Care Insurance shields your assets from the high (and growing) cost of care by establishing a new reserve of finances that are designated specifically for long term care. In Texas, residents can benefit from the Texas Long Term Care Partnership Program, too.
Long Term Care Partnership Program
The Texas Long Term Care Partnership Program is a joint partnership between private Long Term Care Insurance companies and the state of Texas. By joining together, they have created policies to help people plan on their own, but providing a safety net in case their planning isn’t enough.
If you purchase a Partnership eligible Long Term Care Insurance plan, you can qualify for a Medicaid spend down waiver if you were to use all the benefits of your policy and still need care. The partnership promotes self-responsibility among Texans, which helps reduce some of the financial burden on the state and encourage people to plan for themselves. If your policy doesn’t last long enough, though, the state will allow you to qualify for Medicaid long term care services without having to deplete all your assets.
The Partnership Program provides some intangible benefits that can help you out in a time of need. Because Long Term Care Insurance is a sensible tool for retirement, anyway, it makes sense to buy a plan that qualifies for the Texas Partnership Program. If you have questions about which plans are Partnership eligible, be sure to ask your agent.
If you are in the market for Long Term Care Insurance, we will be glad to help you navigate your different options and send you information on the top rated companies for you to review on your own time. Request a free quote today to learn more about the Partnership Program.