Today’s healthcare climate is characterized by uncertainty, creating a plan that accounts for the possibility of long-term care is especially important. The costs associated with healthcare, especially long-term care options like nursing homes, have been increasing steadily in recent years and are not expected to decline anytime soon.
Incorporating the planning tools necessary to protect yourself from unexpected cost increases while providing you and your family with long-term care security is challenging to accomplish on your own. There are several legal factors and environmental influences that must be considered to create an actionable and enforceable plan, and a Long Island estate planning attorney or Long Island Elder Law attorney can help ensure that your wishes are honored.
To explore options on how to incorporate your long-term care preferences into your estate plan, reach out to a Long Island estate planning attorney or Long Island Elder Law attorney from Davidow, Davidow, Siegel & Stern LLP, and continue reading to learn more.
Proactive Long-Term Care Planning Mitigates Risk and Controls Costs
The process of creating an estate plan when you are ill or facing some other situation that requires immediate results can cause a great deal of stress and significantly increase the associated costs. Waiting until the last minute to plan gives you very little time to explore options and make the best and most informed decision.
There are options available for us to help protect and preserve your assets so that your needs will be met throughout the remainder of your life. Effective planning helps you to maintain control of your property and financial affairs while also ensuring that your assets are protected from nursing home expenses, Medicaid liens, and the spending down of assets.
Elder Care Plans Outline Your Wishes and Provide Life-Long Support
The creation of an elder care plan can provide you and your family with a comprehensive strategy that effectively defines your wishes later in life and establishes a foundation so that those wishes do not create financial hardship for your family.
A comprehensive elder care plan covers your:
- Physical affairs and support
- Personal affairs, support, and activities
- Financial affairs
An effective elder care plan also takes into account the capabilities of your family to provide for your wishes. As you’ll learn in your initial consultation, Long Island estate planning attorneys and Long Island Elder Law attorneys can provide for not only your will or living trust but also plans that account for your long-term healthcare, funeral expenses, and other key aspects of long-term planning.
Long-Term Care Insurance is Sometimes Available
Identifying which options are available to you in securing your long-term care plan can be difficult. While long-term care insurance is an option for some of our clients, many of these plans are unavailable due to the age or pre-existing health conditions of the applicant. Additionally, the rate of premiums for long-term care insurance plans is generally not guaranteed, which means that your premium could rise to a level that you can no longer afford.
Paying into a long-term care insurance policy that becomes unaffordable could result in you losing the premiums you paid for the policy for many years. Once premiums aren’t paid you lose the option of capitalizing upon them. Selecting a plan that meets your requirements and protects you against unexpected increases in the cost of premiums is supported by working with an elder law and estate planning lawyer.
Long-term care insurance can be helpful if you’ve kept up on your premiums throughout the entirety of your life until the point where you can use them. However, there may also be a limit to the number of benefits you can receive, and the ongoing rise in healthcare costs could result in your benefits failing to cover your full long-term care needs.
Long-Term Care Plans Can be Constructed to Meet Your Unique Needs and Goals
No two families are alike, and your long-term care plan will take into account the unique characteristics of your family and how they will impact your plan. It is essential to realistically assess your family’s ability to physically care for you as you enter old age. Your house or property may not be conducive for you to receive full-time care, and it may be necessary to hire part or full-time care workers to provide for your needs.
Whatever your preferences might be, your long-term care plan must account for not only what you prefer but what you will be able to afford. The cost of healthcare is continually on the rise in the United States, and your existing insurance plan may not cover long-term care costs or have a cap on the amount you are covered for. Ensuring that you have adequate coverage requires careful consideration of your goals and the methods being employed to reach them.
Protective Planning Helps to Control Cost and Uncertainty Surrounding Your Long-Term Care Plan
When you are proactive in your planning, it is possible to secure and safeguard your assets so that you can then use them to supplement your care beyond the benefits that you are provided through the government. If you are married, the creation of a long-term care plan is all the more important, as it can help to protect your spouse from having to spend down their assets before you can qualify for assistance from the government or receive any other long-term care benefits.
Your assets are effectively supported and preserved through proactive planning so that any unexpected costs associated with your long-term care plan are not financially detrimental to your family.
Connect with a Long Island Estate Planning Attorney to Secure Your Long-Term Care Plan
To secure your long-term care plan and mitigate issues for your family, reach out to a Long Island estate planning lawyer from Davidow, Davidow, Siegel & Stern. We can be reached by calling (631) 234-3030, or you can visit our site to schedule a consultation.