Senior Living Financial Assistance: Insurance and Medicare

In part one of this two-part blog series, we went over some basics on financial assistance that’s sometimes used to help pay for a move for a senior to an assisted living community. Finances are often a significant concern for seniors in this position and their families, for understandable reasons, but luckily there are also several viable resources and solutions available if you’re in need of financial assistance.

At Avamere at Mountain Ridge, we’re proud to offer quality senior living and assisted living communities to a variety of guests, plus assistance with financial aid for those seniors or families who might require it. While part one of our series went over the general costs of senior living and certain approaches you may take for paying for it, today’s part two will look into a few other specific programs or services that may (or may not) be able to provide financial assistance for a senior living move, plus how to utilize them if applicable.

Life Insurance Policy

If the senior in question has a life insurance policy, there may be the option to utilize what’s known as a life settlement through this insurance policy to pay for senior living. This involves a lump sum that’s issued, one that can be used to pay for not just assisted living, but also other options like in-home care or even home improvements to meet a senior’s needs.

The benefits of utilizing such a policy for this purpose include not only the lack of expenses, but also a few others. For one, there’s no restriction on how a senior or their family uses these funds. For another, life settlements often pay out far more than their cash surrender value, up to seven times in many cases. In addition, there may be some tax deductions available if a life settlement is used to pay for long-term senior care.

However, there may also be downsides here. For one, using this method for life insurance may disqualify certain seniors from Medicare. In addition, there are some cases where the settlement will be taxed as a capital gain, and you may have to pay a broker fee. Finally, the senior in question may have to undergo a medical exam for this, which isn’t always desirable.

Long-Term Care Insurance

In other cases, long-term care insurance (LTC) may help here. LTC policies cover people with chronic conditions or disabilities that require daily care, with a few different policy types out there. You may be able to use an LTC policy to help pay for senior living, though these won’t generally cover the full costs – they’ll just help it become more affordable. However, be sure to factor in potential downsides here like increased premiums, strict assisted living community requirements and the potential limits on policy length and payout amounts.

Medicare

Finally, while it’s unfortunate, Medicare does not pay for assisted living costs. This is because Medicare is a healthcare program, so it only covers services that are “medical in nature,” which assisted living is not considered.

For more on financial assistance for a senior living move, or to learn about any of our assisted living, memory care and other senior services, speak to the staff at Avamere at Mountain Ridge today.