Why You Need Long Term Care Insurance
Terry Savage, finance writer for the Chicago Sun-Times and nationally syndicated columnist recently wrote an article on the failing long term health care system. As she mentions in her article the government has sealed its lips when it comes to discussing the cost of financing care.
In the small town of East Troy, Wisconsin the paper ran a story and headline about saving The Manor, the 30 year old Kiwanis’ nursing home. It seems they just can’t keep it afloat. According to the article The Manor, a triple-A-rated facility, has $400,000 in bills greater than its accounts receivable. How did this happen?
The government isn’t paying the bills, or at least not all of them. In 2006 the government reimbursed only 75% of the charges and then in 2007 reduced the reimbursement even further. When a business operates in the red, like The Manor has been, it’s bound to run into trouble. Adding insult to injury the state ordered the nursing home to add a certified nursing assistant to each shift which increased their payroll by $100,000 but at the same time the state reduced its reimbursement to The Manor by $40,000 per year.
In another revealing story from a small Wisconsin town paper “to save taxpayer dollars, the county has gradually increased the number of beds available for patients who can pay privately … and that means fewer beds are available for indigent patients covered by government-subsidized Medicaid“.
If you think the Fed is going to help you with your aging think again. In Insider’s Secrets I discuss this probable future where you have the choice of hedging your bets or rolling the dice with the government and being left to squander in sub-standard or non-available care.
Long term health care is an issue that no one wants to face. Even though the Federal government has offered its workers LTC insurance coverage they refuse to discuss the topic with the public. The Fed’s have seen the writing on the wall with their own people - nothing like Washington to cover their own you know whats - but their lips are sealed when it comes to you and me.
