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Originally Posted by Boomer
We have had a LTC policy for almost 20 years. A few years ago the rates started to go up and the increase has been significant. We just hold our noses and pay the damned bill and write it off to the cost of sleep while hoping we never have to use the policy. We bought it as asset protection for each other. Paying for one in a nursing home would be hard enough on assets. Two would be horrendous.
A non-profit CCRC (Continuum of Care Retirement Community) can be a solution for those who can afford it. A CCRC can take you all the way through from independent living to hospice, if need be. But you have to pay to get in. If you go into independent living, the entry cost can depend on the size of your place, everything from very small on up. Some even have individual houses. There is a monthly fee also in independent living and sometimes meals can be included.
The CCRCs I know about are classified as non-profits and have endowments. They do not kick you out if you run out of money. But their actuaries have to let you in. (I don't know if all CCRCs are non-profits with endowments.)
I think some areas of the country have more CCRCs than others. There is one in Ft. Myers called Shell Point that my BIL looked at a few years ago. He liked it but did not go there. It might be worth looking into for some of you who want to stay in Florida. I don't know how Freedom Pointe in TV works.
You can look places up on medicare.gov and it will tell you if a place is a CCRC. If choosing one of those, starting with independent living seems to be the way to go.
Boomer
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Freedom Pointe is the best place to go in The Villages, if you can afford it. You pay an entry fee, based on the size of the independent living condo, and a monthly fee. Then, you can move to assisted living or to the nursing home as needed. The other places are just rental apartments where you don't even get a lease. I have always considered long term care insurance to be a ripoff.