San Antonio Retirement Planning Lawyer

Here are just a few of the expenses that frequently come up in long-term healthcare: 

• Assisted living facilities
• A home health aide who helps prepare meals
• An aide who comes by to drive you on errands or to social activities

Assisted living is a big-ticket item financially, but don’t underestimate how quickly the costs of just having someone periodically come over can add up. 

Are you counting on Medicare? There are some expenses associated with long-term care that Medicare may help with, but not the big ones. You might get coverage for some types of in-home care, hospice care, and maybe a short stay at assisted living. But the long-term stay at assisted living? The one that can completely eat up your remaining assets? Medicare will not be there. Nor will traditional private health insurance plans. 

Options to Finance Long-Term Care Planning

The most straightforward way of paying for long-term health care is to take out insurance specifically designed for these expenses. Most people begin to seek out long-term care insurance (LTC) in their mid-fifties. 

If your health is good, this can work. But insurance companies can be as stringent in who they approve LTC for as they can be with life insurance. A person with pre-existing conditions may have a hard time getting a policy approved or finding one that’s affordable. 

Another possibility is to take out what’s called “hybrid” LTC insurance policies, one that doubles as an annuity. These are purchased with one lump sum and have the added benefit of allowing you to recoup the annuity, even if you don’t need long-term care.

Attorney Paul Hardy is more than an experienced San Antonio retirement lawyer—he has studied Financial Risk Management and can help you consider these and other options that may be at your disposal. One of those options is Medicaid. 

Medicaid Planning

Medicaid is not the same as Medicare. The latter is a program that everyone, regardless of income, qualifies for based on age. Medicaid is for those whose income falls below a certain level. Medicaid planning refers to the strategies taken to get you underneath the monthly income thresholds while staying in compliance with state and federal law. 

Your income includes not only employment wages, but any payments from a pension, alimony, or a government program. Your assets can include stock ownership, bank accounts and any real estate you are not living on. The key to Medicaid planning is getting those assets below the thresholds for program eligibility. 

Texas, like all other states, has rules in place that seek to prevent people from simply getting rid of all their assets in order to get on Medicaid. Paul Hardy Law understands these rules and the alternatives that are allowed.