Re: Long term care
That depends. If you (or the person on whose behalf
you are inquiring) are healthy then there are some
ways to protect your assets, but they require some
advanced planning in order to work. You can gift
some money to relatives, or you can create various
forms of trusts to try to keep your money. The problem
is that if you gift your money you create a 3 year
"look back period." What that means is that if you
were to apply for medicaid assistance during taht
period you would be disqualified for the period of
time you could have paid for on your own had you not
transferred that money. If you create a trust you
create a 60 month look back period.
Obviously none of this is simple, and you should
get help if you want to do any of it, but there are
ways to protect at least some of your assets.
Of course, long term care insurance has its advantages,
too. I know that it can be expensive, but if you can
find it at an affordable price you can avoid the need
to worry about look back periods and such by simply
cashing in on the insurance when the time comes.
Naturally, the younger you are when you apply the
cheaper long term care insurance is...
Hope that helps...
