California Long Term Care Insurance Cost Information

Long term care is one of the most pressing issues in California. Surveys have shown that only half of the population of older Americans and their families know that Medicare is not responsible for paying an individuals overall long-term care expenses. Unfortunately, most families in United States need 80% of long-term care; thus, the scanty coverage of Medicare will jeopardize the health and welfare of many elders in need of long term care assistance.

The Genworth Financial, a leading Fortune 500 global insurance company, conducted a survey on the costs of care in California in 2010 and came up with upsetting figures: $20,020 per year median rate for adult day care, $42,000 average median rate for assisted living facilities, $87,345 a year for private room in nursing homes, while $73,000 a year for semi-private rooms.

Unquestionably, long term care leads most Californian elders in despair and shackles families in poverty due to the unreasonable and soaring prices of such care. Approximately there are four million adults in California who are in the age bracket of 65 and above, but, unfortunately, more than 500,000 of these seniors are below federal poverty level. About 27 percent of the senior population are members of Medi-Cal (Californias Medicaid Program) where women hold 15 percent of the segment. The state of California devotes Medicaid spending to about $28.9 billion, with an effort to allot huge shares to disabled (40%) and seniors (27%) for the fiscal year 2006. Though long term care costs by state vary, California is surely one of the most expensive states in United States for long term care.

California Long Term Care Insurance Partnership Program


California Partnership for Long Term Care is a joint venture of the Department of Health Care Services of the State of California and private insurance companies meant to alleviate the problems associated with the states long-term care. The long term care insurance partnership works to diminish the financial burden on the states medical assistance program since long-term care is funded by private insurance and Medi-Cal.



California Long Term Care Partnership Policy


Policies (partnership policies) offered by private insurance companies must be in accordance with the agreement set by the partnership program. Under the Long Term Care Insurance Policy, a qualified individual may receive continuous benefits for his or her elderly care from Medical and is not obliged to fritter his or her assets just to obtain a policy. The policyholder, aside from getting benefits from Medi-Cal, may also enjoy a lifetime asset protection that helps him or her purchase policies with coverage equal to the amount of assts he or she wants to protect from approximately $47,000 up to your total assets."



Types of Partnership Policies

There are two kinds of partnership policies: the comprehensive type and the facility only type. The Comprehensive type covers home care and nursing home care or residential care. The Facility Only type covers only the facility care. Otherwise, all Partnership policies have the same features:

Automatic inflation protection
Waiver of premiums while receiving care in a facility.
A deductible, usually an elimination period, that must be used by the policyholder
Care coordination or assistance in planning and securing care services. Care coordination includes services provided by a licensed health care professional, a designee of a Care Management Organization approved by the State Department of Health, to assess and create a plan specific to one's Long Term Care needs.
Interchangeable policy benefits for customizing care.