Medicare/Supplement/Medicaide

[missgingerbgb12]

My step had a med sup in mo, but she went on hospice so they are making her come off of her supplement and apply for medicaide and taking her life insurance policies. Is there a way around this. This is not right, she had insurance. Why couldn't she just stay on Medicare Sup, she also had a long term care policy and just canceled it a few months ago because they would not pay for anything either. Any suggestions?

 

[Josh]

You've got a lot going on here, but just off what you're posting it sounds like the state (through Medicaid) is going to be paying somewhere around $100k/year to cover nursing home expenses for the rest of her life. Cancelling the LTC policy might have been the right move, but it's possible that was a major mistake. You should probably find a LTC agent to look into that.

As far as the life insurance policies go, the state is going to go after assets to offset the expense of the nursing home. The reality is that relative to whatever they're taking, the amount of healthcare coverage she's receiving in return is a heck of a bargain.

Suggestions:

1. Find a decent LTC agent to look at that LTC policy and see if cancelling it was the right move (and if it wasn't, see if it's possible to get it reinstated, but I wouldn't hold my breath on that).

2. You may need to talk to an estate planning attorney about the life policies, especially if they're anything significant.

3. Back to the LTC policy, if it was the right LTC coverage all of this would be avoided, but it sounds like it was too little.

 

[missgingerbgb12]

It was the long term care policy that the agent sold her when she first went on to medicare. I am not sure what one it was though. She went on hospice because there is nothing else they can do for her and basically just waiting to dye but from the way I understand if she would have refused hospice and medicaid, would medicare and the supplement still have to pay. I will look into the type of policy she had. Thank you for your response.

 

[Longtimeagent]

It was the long term care policy that the agent sold her when she first went on to medicare. I am not sure what one it was though. She went on hospice because there is nothing else they can do for her and basically just waiting to dye but from the way I understand if she would have refused hospice and medicaid, would medicare and the supplement still have to pay. I will look into the type of policy she had. Thank you for your response.

Correct me if I'm wrong...hospice and nursing home are TWO different things.
Medicare and supplements cover Hospice

Medicaid covers Nursing home after a spend down.

 

[GreenSky]

If she's in hospice why in the world would anyone recommend that she gets her LTC plan reinstated? She's not likely to be in a nursing home since she's already in hospice.

Most LTC plans have a 90 day wait. How many people survive more than 90 days in hospice?

Bad advice. I'd leave that kind of advice to someone who had done their CE and sells LTC.

Rick

 

[Longtimeagent]

If she's in hospice why in the world would anyone recommend that she gets her LTC plan reinstated? She's not likely to be in a nursing home since she's already in hospice. Most LTC plans have a 90 day wait. How many people survive more than 90 days in hospice? Bad advice. I'd leave that kind of advice to someone who had done their CE and sells LTC. Rick

Exactly. I sell LTC and that boggles me that they made her drop her LTC policy. That won't likely pay for hospice. Assisted Living, HHC and NHomes are not a related covered stay in relation to hospice. Most ltc policies do have elimination periods of 0-90 days. That would require her not being able to perform 2 of 6 ADL's. Hospice is for end of life care. Not custodial care. Somehow I think he is getting hospice and nursing home confused. Also don't complicate it and mix up nursing and skilled care. Apples and oranges here.

 

[goillini52]

Correct me if I'm wrong...hospice and nursing home are TWO different things.
Medicare and supplements cover Hospice

Medicaid covers Nursing home after a spend down.

Depends on the type policy and the company, John Hancock covers hospice.

 

[Longtimeagent]

Depends on the type policy and the company, John Hancock covers hospice.

Not really the point though. The point is they are making her spend down assets while in hospice. How is that so?

 

[goillini52]

Not really the point though. The point is they are making her spend down assets while in hospice. How is that so?

The way I read your 1st comment, sounded like you were saying that LTCi didn't cover hospice, only Medicare did.

If I misinterpreted that, my apologies.

 

[Longtimeagent]

The way I read your 1st comment, sounded like you were saying that LTCi didn't cover hospice, only Medicare did. If I misinterpreted that, my apologies.

It's all good. It's hard to interpret on here. You can not read between the lines too much. That's the problem here. People read something and "see" something totally different.

Still. How is this possible? Sounds like she isn't in hospice actually.