Health Care Collaboration

Long-term care is when a person needs someone to care for them because they cannot manage a number of daily living activities on their own any longer and it is envisaged that this will happen for the foreseeable future. It comprises of help with daily living activities such as washing, dressing or eating and can take place in the home or in a residential or nursing care home.

The need for care can occur instantly without warning, such as the result of a stroke or heart condition. On the other hand the need for care could evolve progressively as the person’s dependency increases due to lack of mobility or dementia.

Why take out a long term care immediate needs policy? Essentially predicting life expectancy is not a precise science. When people pay for their own care they may live longer in a good care home but their money could run out. An insurance care plan policy guarantees life time payments.

When a person dies, the income stops and the care plan purchase price is non refundable unless there is some form of capital protection against early demise.

Long term care insurance plan premiums are calculated based on the individual’s life expectancy. this is forecast by reference to medical information provided by the person’s family doctor. Also insurance companies endeavour to speak to care home staff for an up to date hands on assessment. The cost of a care plan is less relative to correspondingly deteriorating health and frailty.

In addition to age, gender and state of health, the lump sum cost of a long term care policy is assessed by the level of monthly payments to the care provider. The monthly shortfall is calculated by deducting other regular income such as pensions and state benefits. The regular shortfall will help determine the amount of lump sum purchase price in return for a guaranteed income stream for life. The care benefits can be arranged to rise automatically every year by a given percentage to coincide with the care provider’s annual review date.

When arranging the annuity, it is a good idea to ask the care provider about the history of price increases so that this can be taken into account when arranging the level of benefits required. Better still ask the care provider if they will agree to fixed annual fee rises at say 5% in return for direct payments into their account that increase automatically every year.

Obviously, if the care costs rise above the level of insurance payments, there could be a further shortfall. But to all intents and purposes, this is usually manageable from other savings, unless the level of care required has altered drastically. In this case, a further review of the situation should be done before parting with more funds. For example, the care needs may have escalated to the point of the person becoming eligible for free personal care known as continuing care.

Payments from long term care policies are payable direct to registered care providers and taxed in their hands as a trading receipt. In this way there is no tax payable on the income stream by the person receiving care.

before you start planning for long term care fees be certain you access Barbara Davies’s vital free article about long term care insurance plans .

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