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| August 18, 2006 Barnstable Patriot |  |
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THE BjUUjsnujUSEHIOB CENTER
From the Director
By Elyse DeGroot
Cool things this summer
Ok
, where did it
go? Last time
I checked the
calendar, school was
;.just getting out and
the Sox's were in first
place. Now I hear the
cicadas and the sun
goes down too quickly.
Let's not even talk
about the Sox's. This
time of year seems to
move even faster then
the other seasons. The
Senior Center has been
changing in subtle but
significant ways over the
summer as well. In case
you haven't noticed, we
have been quietly refin-
ing our image and mes-
sage. September will be
a very big month for us
as our new look comes
to completion.
I hope you have heard
about the new computer
system we will be install-
ing. It is extremely cool.
(Think Stop & Shop or
Curves and their touch
screen system). We will
be officially launching
our new touch screen
system beginning on
September 12th . During
that week, if you come
register for your new
swipe card and turn in
your old one, we will
enter your name in a
raffle drawing. Even if
you are not one of our
"regulars" come check it
out. You will not believe
how simple it is going to
be to use the new system
and what great technol-
ogy we will have, literally
at our finger tips.
We will be starting to
use our new letterhead
and business cards in
September, as well get-
ting a new sign for the
entrance on Route 28.
I know, I know, you will
miss the old sign. Me
too. NOT. The new sign
will have our new logo
on it and will be a lot
easier to see.
Soon you will see a
new look on our publica-
tions; the Senior Com-
p ass is part of our over-
all new look, and will
become the new official
name of both our previ-
ous publications. Many
heartfelt thanks to Rob
Sennott and the Patriot
crew for their help, guid-
ance (and patience) in
this endeavor. We trust
you will enjoy the new
name and the implica-
tion it suggests as much
as we do.
When you look through
the Senior Compass , we
hope it will provide you
with 2 new perspectives:
a sense of direction for
what you would like to
explore next at the Cen-
ter through our classes
and programs and a
magazine like format
with interesting articles
and story 's for your
reading pleasure. Please
give us your thoughts
and feedback.
The process for hir-
ing the architects and
planning for the Garden
Level have begun. I am
confident that the new
space will offer opportu-
nities for new program-
ming, including more
exercise classes and a
gerontology library. I
hope I will be writing
about how wonderful it
is, this time next year.
So, I hope you are
intrigued. Stop by to
see what the fuss is all
about. And plan on be-
ing WOWED by what you
see. Your Senior Center
is a very, very cool place.
Long-term care insurance considerations
By Michael Lavender
coiumnist@barnstablepatriot.com
If
you can afford the
premiums and you are
insurable, the best
solution to the prospect
of significant Long-term
care costs is long-term
care insurance. Most
long-term insurance poli-
cies today pay for home
care and assisted living
as well as for nursing
home care. The problem
is choosing a good policy
and being able to afford
it.
Long-term care insur-
ance is a contract be-
tween an insurance com-
pany and a policyholder
to pay for certain types
of coverage under certain
conditions. In general,
long-term care policies
are sold by insurance
agents to policyholders,
although group policies
are becoming increas-
ingly available from large
employers, membership
organizations like AARP,
and health maintenance
organizations.
Despite the wide range
of policy options, there
are a few rules of thumb
for purchasing a policy.
Following these rules
tends to drive up the
insurance premium, but
if an individual is going
to invest in long-term
care coverage , he or she
should buy a good policy.
• Buy enough coverage for what
you want to cover.
While nursing homes are
increasingly expensive,
more alternatives to nurs-
ing homes exist than ever
before. If you cannot af-
ford to purchase sufficient
coverage to pay for nurs-
ing home care (including
anticipated inflation), you
may be able to cover the
cost of home care or as-
sisted living. In that case
you can think of the policy
as "avoid nursing home"
insurance. It doesn't make
much sense to pay insur-
ance premiums and then
be bankrupted by nurs-
ing home fees anyway
because of insufficient
coverage. As with other
medical expenses, the
inflation rate in nursing
home fees is quite high. In
addition, people should
probably assume that
they won't be entering a
nursing home for at least
10 years. At that time, the
cost of the nursing home
will be about twice what it
is today.
• Buy enough coverage.
How much coverage you
need depends on your
strategy. In general, you
do not need to purchase a
lifetime policy — three to
five years worth of cover-
age should be enough. In
fact a new study from the
American Association of
Long-term Care Insur-
ance shows that a three-
year benefit policy is
sufficient for most people.
According to the study
of in-force long-term care
policies, only 8 percent of
people needed coverage
for more than three years.
So, unless you have a
family history of a chronic
illness, you aren't likely to
need more coverage.
If you are buying insur-
ance as part of a Med-
icaid planning strategy,
however, you will need to
purchase at least enough
insurance to cover the
five-year lookback period.
After moving to a nursing
home or assisted living,
you may want to transfer
assets to your children , or
to whomever you would
like to benefit, if you
haven't done so already.
Medicaid penalizes such
transfers by imposing
a period of ineligibility
that can be as long as five
years (or five years for
transfers to or from cer-
tain trusts). After those
five years have passed,
you can qualify for Med-
icaid to pay your nursing
home costs (provided
the assets remaining in
your name do not exceed
Medicaid's limits).
• Buy a home care option or rider.
One of the problems
with Medicaid is that
although it pays for nurs-
ing home care, it pays for
only limited home care
. Thus, people often feel
financially compelled to
move to a nursing home,
where the state will pick
up the cost. Until there is
a change in the law, most
home care will have to be
paid for out-of-pocket or
by insurance. It doesn't
make much sense to pay
insurance premiums to
replicate the Medicaid
situation-coverage at a
nursing home but not at
home.
• Fill out the application
completely and make sure the
insurance company evaluates it
before issuing the policy.
If in order to qualify
for insurance you fail to
tell the insurer about an
illness, the company may
refuse you coverage at the
time benefits are needed.
It is better to be denied
a policy and to be able to
plan knowing that cover-
age is not available than
to believe that coverage
will be forthcoming, only
to have it denied when it
is needed.
• Compare insurance companies
and rates.
Make certain that the
insurer is rated A or A+
by A.M. Best or another
service that rates insur-
ance companies. Your
coverage will not be very
effective if the insurer
goes out of business. In
addition, rates charged
by insurance companies
in the long-term care field
tend to vary widely. Com-
pare different companies'
rates and offerings before
making a decision.
• Which spouse gets the
coverage?
Often, a married couple
will be able to afford
coverage for only one
spouse. Looking at statis-
tics alone, the wife should
purchase the policy. In
our society women tend
to live longer than men
and to provide more care
than men. The result is
that women are much
more likely than men to
end up in a nursing home
for a long period of time.
In addition, the Medicaid
rules provide some pro-
tection for the spouse of
a nursing home resident.
For these reasons, the
best bet for couples who
can afford the premiums
for one policy only is to
purchase it for the wife.
Couples should bear in
mind, however, that this
is playing the odds and is
not a sure thing.
• Can you afford long-term care
insurance?
A rule of thumb is that
payment of the long-term
care insurance premium
should not affect your
standard of living. Thus,
premiums are afford-
able if they are paid with
money that you would
otherwise set aside to add
to savings. An alternative
would be to purchase an
annuity that pays suffi-
cient benefit s to cover the
long-term care insurance
premiums.
Attorney Michael L. Lavender
specializes in Elder Law and is
in private practice in Barnstable
Village.
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