1) Buying Long Term Care insurance costs too much.
The objective is to buy “enough” coverage to help you, but not to “over-insure” and spend your money unnecessarily. Guard yourself against the things that are most likely to happen, not every conceivable thing that could. The person you talked with could have priced an inappropriate plan that was to expensive, or they had limited or no access to any other company except for the one they work for. If buying a plan creates hardship, whomever you talked with should not have suggested buying it in the first place.

2) I don’t need LTC insurance because Medicare pays for it.
The following is a paragraph taken directly from the “Massachusetts State Guide” entitled; “Your Options for Financing Long-Term Care” which is published by our state.
Quote; - “Most long-term care is paid from: (1) an individuals own resources, (2) his or her family’s resources or (3) Medicaid, the federal-state government program designed to cover the health care costs of an indigent population. Contrary to popular belief, traditional health insurance and Medicare usually provide little or no coverage for long term care. Currently, most people who need long term care services must pay for it on their own unless (a) they have long term care insurance policies with benefits for the services they need or (b) they are or become eligible for Medicaid…… End quote;

3) I have a homestead, so my I’m already protected.
The “Homestead Act” enables a homeowner to protect a portion of the value of their home from legal issues, but does absolutely “Nothing” to protect you from the government. To get a homestead, simply go to your Registry of Deeds with $30.00 and fill out the paperwork. It will then be recorded on your deed. Don’t think that the government will pay long term care expenses because we paid the Registry $30.00

4) In my family we all just die.
 Some people talk about their parents or even grandparents that died before America’s involvement in Word War II, when penicillin had just been invented. My own father died from an ulcer in 1966. No one dies of ulcers anymore. Medical technology and prescription medications have come a long way, and have extended life far past the average life expectancy of 56 years old in the 1930’s. Others have taken care of someone for months; even years – but they don’t consider that to be long term care, because they did it themselves – That “is” long term care.

5) Trusts and giving away assets to qualify for Medicaid.
President Bush signed the “Deficit Reduction Act” on February 8th of 2006. This law essentially closes many of the loop-holes that were once considered in Medicaid planning. The Look-back periods have been extended for gifting or giving assets, even innocently to fund a grandchild’s education for example, or for giving to charities. Although the law is complex and lengthy, the message is clear enough. “You pay what you have first, before the government pays”. Medicaid is a welfare program for the poor, primarily pays for nursing homes, and gives little choice. No one would “plan to be” a welfare recipient if they actually knew the personal consequences of doing so.

Protecting Tomorrow’s independence …Today