Public Service Announcement

If you're over fifty years old you need long term care insurance. There's roughly a 50-50 chance you'll spend more than 3 months in a nursing home, an assisted living facility, or need in home health care for at least that amount of time before you die. Medicare doesn't pay for it. Supplemental health insurance doesn't pay for it. Medicaid will gladly pay for it if you have less than $2,000 of stuff, not counting your home or one car, and depending where you are in the country they may put a limit on the value of those. Every penny you bring in over $1,200 a month will go to the facility. If you bring in more than $1,800 a month, better luck next time, there's the door. While Medicaid ignores the spouses income, they do consider everything jointly owned. In Florida the average cost of a facility is $5,000 a month, and it goes up every year. I run into people a lot more often than I would like to that get themselves stuck. They work for fifty years building a nest egg then Johnny has a mild stroke and breaks his hip, which becomes arthritic, and they have to give it all back. Or they can go to an attorney who specializes in Elder law who will suggest they need to get divorced so they don't wind up sharing cans of generic cat food for the rest of their lives. Merry Christmas.