Kristie’s story is tragic. The fact that she has had to endure so much at such a young age is awful. People tend to forget there is another tragedy here. Financially, this experience has had catastrophic effects for not only Kristie, but her loved ones as well. Something I did not mention in my previous articles is the fact that Kristie’s mother is suffering from Multiple Sclerosis.

She is in a nursing home and Kristie is not able to visit her very often. (You can read more at http://www.carepages.com/carepages/KristieTunick/patient, you have to register, but it is easy and free.) Another word of advice from Kristie is for people to consider long-term care insurance. This has helped greatly with her mother’s care.

Today I will focus on long-term care insurance.

Long-term care insurance covers the things that medical insurance typically does not cover (i.e. nursing care). These services tend to be very expensive. With people living longer, there is a higher risk for chronic health issues. This could end up costing you all of your life savings as well as your assets. Medicaid only pays for long-term care if you have already depleted most of your assets.

What does long-term care insurance typically cover?

• Care in a nursing home
• Adult day care
• Home care (i.e. bathing, dressing, eating, cleaning)
• Assisted living services
• Visiting nurses

When is the right time to buy a policy? This is very controversial. I have heard as early as 40. The pro’s to this is that your monthly premium tends to be lower. However, with the average age of people being admitted to a nursing home at 83, you could be paying premiums for 40+ years.

The best advice I have found is to start looking into long-term care insurance around 55 to 60 if you have a chronic condition. If you are healthy, start looking around age 60. Your premiums will be higher, however, you will shave off 20 years of premiums.

Do your homework! Make sure you research the insurance companies as well as the policies. Some of the things to keep in mind are:

• Benefit period – This is the length of time you will receive benefits from your policy. This can be as little as two years and as long as the rest of your life.
• Waiting period – The waiting period is when you are paying for everything out of pocket. It can range from 0 to 100 days. The shorter the waiting period, the higher the monthly premium.
• Inflation protection – With medical costs rising at astronomical rates each year, you want to make sure your policy will cover those costs in the future.
• Financial stability of the insurance company – You don’t want to pay premiums for a number of years and then find the company goes out of business before you are able to reap the benefits.

Make sure you shop and compare policies. Once you get your policy, review it and make sure it is what you signed up for. Remember, you cannot be too careful!