Bradley H. Sabin, M.D.
is joining
Kathleen M. Norton, M.D.
Jeffrey M. Klein, M.D.
and Russell G. Hug, M.D.
in their
lotoroal
Medicine
practice
The doctors offer complete care
for adults:
■ annual physical exams
■ women's health care including
gynecological exams and
Pap smears
■ men's health care including
prostate screening and flexible
sigmoidoscopy
■ education
■ preventive medical care
The physicians are all certified by the
American Board of Internal Medicine,
on staff at William Beaumont Hospital
in Royal Oak and participate with
most insurance plans.
oats
or #100M:
Call now for an appointment.
ea deny trainingtn Internal
North western
(c nentNorth
wester Memorial
(248) 544-0070
2575 North Woodward, Suite 220
Berkley
(in the Northpointe Medical Building)
Milton M. Green, M.D.
Daniel Schechter, M.D.
Richard Krugel, M.D.
Bruce D. Abrams, M.D.
of
BONE AND JOINT SURGICAL ASSOCIATE, P.C.
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEW S
Orthopaedic Surgery
4400 Town Center, Ste. 275
Southfield, MI 48075
are pleased to announce they have joined
the staff of Providence Hospital.
(248) 358-5520
The physicians will continue to serve patients
at both Sinai and Grace Hospitals
LTC VS. TLC page 67
3+ months in a nursing home;
about one in four will spend 1+
years in a nursing home; and
only about one in 11 will spend
5+ years in a nursing home.
Women are at greater risk for
needing a nursing home than
men and the probability of nurs-
ing home care increases with
age.
Some may need it for short pe-
riods, others for longer periods
because they require 24-hour
care or because the care they
need isn't available in-home.
The biggest reason people opt
for LTC insurance is simple:
They don't want to take the
chance of being wiped out fi-
nancially if they or their family
members end up in a nursing
home. That peace of mind is
worth the expense of a policy.
FINANCIAL ISSUES
Long-term care is expensive.
The average cost of nursing
home care for a year is in the
range of $30,000 to $40,000.
Skilled at-home nursing care
and visits from a nurse three
times a week for about two hours
per visit for the year would range
from $12,300 to $14,000. The
same amount of visits from a
home health aide would cost
about $8,400 to $9,000 per year.
Even when you figure in the
time value of money you come
out way ahead. For example, the
average annual premium for a
65-year-old is about $2,200+ and
you pay the premiums for 10
years. That's not exactly chick-
en feed for most people.
If you took the $2,200 and in-
vested in a mutual fund yielding
10 percent return, within a
decade it would have grown to
more than $38,500 or enough to
pay for a year at the average
nursing home.
Getting the right coverage at
the right price is not exactly a
foregone conclusion. One of the
biggest problems: Your agent
may not know a whole lot more
about long-term care than you
do. Often the company's broker
agents who work independently
of their firm may receive no
training at all.
In fact, only eight states re-
quire agents to have any train-
ing in LTC products. If you're
dealing with an informed, hon-
est agent that's great, but if
you're not, the consumer is at the
agent's mercy.
The statistics are a shell game
and the sales pitches that rely
on them are ambiguous and
among the most compelling
you'll ever hear. It goes like this:
There's an almost 50 percent
chance that you'll spend some
part of your final years in a nurs-
ing home. It will cost you an av-
erage of $40,000 a year 'and up to
$100,000 in some urban areas.
Unless you buy insurance to cov-
er it, you risk losing all you own.
Or if your parents get sick it could
wipe out your entire inheritance
and your nest egg.
Let's say you're looking for a
policy that pays for a wheelchair
ramp to be added to your home.
Travelers, CNA and John Han-
cock all sell policies that cover
such expenses, but each comes
with a confusing caveat. One cov-
ers the expense only when it's
part of a "written plan of care."
Another pays for ramps that are
"medically acceptable." Yet oth-
ers will only bankroll construc-
tion if all the benefits for home
care are exhausted, while others
will pay if they can choose the
wheelchair.
POLICY GAMES
Even the most basic policies
are confusing. For example,
many policies cover home-care
costs such as occasional nursing,
but one doesn't pay for trans-
portation and house cleaning,
while the other does.
Think about it! That's a major
difference in coverage when a
person no longer drives.
Before signing, send the poli-
cy to the state Office on Aging.
They can't help you select a pol-
icy, but they can tell you whether
the policy is legitimate and
whether there has been a histo-
ry of complaints against the in-
surer.
Michigan law requires certain
standards for LTC insurance
policies sold in this state. LTC
policies must: provide coverage
for all levels of nursing home care
(skilled, custodial, intermediate);
provide coverage for home care
services.
The benefit amount must be
at least half the daily dollar
amount of coverage for nursing
home care; pay for care even
without prior hospital or skilled
nursing facility stays; not exclude
or limit coverage for Alzheimer's
disease or related disorders after
you buy a policy; policies must be
guaranteed renewable.
Nonforfeiture should be in-
cluded in every policy; they can
not limit coverage for pre-exist-
ing conditions for more than six
months; offer an inflation ad-
justment option; provide a brief
policy outline during the sales
presentation; provide a 30-day
"free look" period.
A new beneficiary can decide
they don't want the policy with-
in the first 30 days and are en-
titled to a full refund. After 30
days, a pro-rated refund is avail-
able.
BENEFIT TRIGGERS
Most policies require one of
three separate events to trigger
benefits: medical necessity (cer-
tification by a physician), the in-
ability to perform daily tasks of
living (ADLs) or cognitive
paimient.
Hint: look for a policy that lists
bathing as an activity of daily liv-
ing because this is the first ac-