Long Term Care Planning and Insurance for Florida Residents

Not every Florida resident will require long term care before he or she passes away, but a large number of us will. For that reason, it is important to think about this eventuality and prepare for it accordingly as a component of our estate plans.

There is a high likelihood that you will require some kind of custodial care one day. Even young people — if they suffer a serious health event or contract a serious illness — may require custodial care before they reach old age.

Medical and other types of insurance will pay for medical costs associated with hospitalization and illness. However, it will not pay for in-home care or assisted living. Indeed, if you ever reach a point where you are unable to bathe yourself, dress yourself, prepare your food or go to the toilet without assistance, you may incur stiff costs that you cannot afford.

In the past, the task of caring for the elderly was performed by the elderly person’s children or close relatives. However, not everyone has a child or relative that is willing and/or capable of caring for them in this fashion. This is where long-term care insurance might be able to help.

The thing is, long-term health care insurance may not be for everyone. That is because not everyone’s budgets will be able to afford the costs of a long-term care policy. As such, before buying into a long-term health care policy, Florida residents may want to consult with an experienced estate planning attorney who can offer different solutions to protect them and their estates from the costs of long-term care, should they ever require it in the future.

Source: Chicago Tribune, “5 things to know about long-term care policies,” Terry Savage, Aug. 24, 2015