Which portion of your farm or ranch would you sell first to pay nursing home expenses?
With the implementation of the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005, the loop holes that once allowed people in a nursing home to qualify for Medicaid have been eliminated. If you have more money than your state permits when you need long-term care services, your state's Medicaid program won't pay for those services. You'll have to spend your own money - including using up your assets - until you have become poor enough to qualify.
What's that mean for farmers and ranchers with land valued in the thousands and even millions of dollars? Without good planning, your land will need to be sold - acre by acre - to pay the cost of a nursing home stay.
But, if you plan ahead to participate in your state's Long Term Care Partnership Program, you can qualify for Medicaid without selling valuable farm and ranch land and spending yourself into poverty.
How's the LTC Partnership Program work? If you own a long term care insurance policy that is approved by your state, you can apply for Medicaid benefits even though you haven't sold and used your assets. Each dollar paid by the insurance company is a dollar of assets you can keep in addition to the minimum permitted by your state's Medicaid rules.
For example, suppose you purchase and own a long-term care insurance policy that pays $50,000 in benefits. In that case, you can keep $50,000 in land, investments or savings and still qualify for Medicaid. Without the long term care insurance policy, you'd most likely have to spend the money you have saved or sell assets (this is called "spending down") before you became eligible for Medicaid to pay your long term care bills. However, even under the LTC Partnership Program, although you get to keep assets like land and savings, you might still have to use part of your income to pay long term care expenses.
While the LTC Partnership Program provides strong motivation for the purchase of individual long term care policy, there are those individuals who's health may not allow them to qualify. Other individuals might choose to protect their assets by self-insuring or choosing asset-based alternatives. Representatives at Basic Financial Solutions, Inc. specialize in working with farmers and ranchers. Whether you choose to purchase your own long term care policy or opt for one of the great alternatives available to you, rest assured that your interests as well as your family's interests will be held in the highest priority.
To receive your free Long Term Care Planning Kit or to talk with your local Basic Financial Solutions Representative about long term care insurance, click here.
Click here to request a long term care insurance quote.
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