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Ohio Ranks Poorly for Long Term Care

The quality of long term care varies greatly depending on your location within the United States, according to a new report from AARP. If you’re looking for the best care, you won’t find it in Ohio. The Buckeye State was reported low on the scorecard, coming in at an overall long term care ranking of 44 of 51.

Long Term Care Scorecard

The report analyzed long term services and supports within all 50 states and the District of Columbia to determine how long term care fares differently across the country and where care is the most effective. Using a number of measurable factors, AARP, The Scan Foundation, and the Commonwealth Fund put together this scorecard of states based on their long term care systems. Affordability and access, quality of life and care, and choice of setting and provider were some of the main categories on which the organizations based the rankings.

Ohio received extremely poor marks in quality of life and care and affordability and access, respectively ranked 39 and 42, both in the fourth quartile. The state did manage to remain in the third quartile of rankings for the areas of choice of setting and provider, effective transitions, and support for family caregivers.

Status in Ohio

Some progress has been made in Ohio when it comes to effective transitions, the category for which the state ranked the best, coming in at 27 of 51. The percentage of nursing home residents that has been hospitalized in a six month period decreased from 18.6% in 2008 to 16.8% in 2010. Transitions between long term care and other institutionalized care is a major indicator of the efficacy of the care system in place.

Support for family caregivers, on the other hand, hasn’t seen much progress at all. In fact, the percentage of family caregivers who report not being overcome by stress, having enough free time, and being well-rested rose 2.2% between 2010 and 2012. Though family caregivers aren’t experiencing the respite they need, facility care and home agency care are both seeing improvements in Ohio.

Changes in Care Delivery

The percentage of Medicaid dollars funding home and community based care services is up from 24.7% in 2009 to 31.4% in 2011. This crucial shift demonstrates an understanding of the importance of moving away from institutionalized care and towards more community based solutions. The persistence of institutionalized care has been a problem that caused both financial and emotional problems and had yet to be recognized as something to change until recently.

The number of home health aides per 1,000 adults aged 65 and over has also increased from 29 in 2009 to 39 in 2012. On top of that, the nursing home turnover rate is down from 60% in 2008 to a much lower 37.3% in 2010. Long term care facilities are seeing a great deal of improvement when it comes to dispensing care in the most financially and socially effective way. You can read the full Ohio Scorecard here.

Ohio still has a long way to go when it comes to nursing home care, but doing your research can help you find a quality nursing home or home health agency that can provide the care you are looking for. US News and World Report publishes an annual nursing home ranking, which you can look through and find the top rated nursing homes in your area.

Long Term Care Insurance can help provide you with the freedom of choice and the financial security you want when it comes time to receive long term care. Learn more about the cost of long term care in Ohio or read more into Long Term Care Insurance and how it can help you.

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Top 10 Long Term Care Insurance Companies in Ohio

Ohio’s Department of Insurance regulates Long Term Care Insurance policies sold, and has approved dozens of companies to sell various forms of Long Term Care Insurance.

While there are numerous options available to Ohio residents, we commonly are asked to provide the top companies, organized by size and financial rating, that provide LTC policies.  When it comes to Tax-Qualified policies, there are options from several major insurers in Ohio:

  • State Farm
  • MassMutual
  • New York Life
  • Northwestern Mutual
  • John Hancock
  • Transamerica
  • Genworth Financial
  • Mutual of Omaha

In addition, there are Long Term Care-centered “hybrid” or “asset based” Universal Life insurance policies from numerous carriers, including:

  • Lincoln Financial
  • Pacific Life
  • State Life
  • Nationwide

If you’re shopping for Long Term Care coverage, it’s important to compare companies and shop options between the various companies.  Ohio residents have access to specific policies approved for sale in the state that differ from policies sold in other states.

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How Long Term Care Insurance Can Help Ohioans in Retirement

Planning for retirement means more than just scheduling your free time and figuring out whether you’ll spend your days at the beach or in the city. As nice as it sounds, there is much more to retirement than lounging around without a care in the world.

Financial Planning

Planning for retirement involves a wide variety of working parts that come together to finely tune your financial plan and ensure it is working properly throughout all of your golden years. Long Term Care Insurance is one of the moving parts that you should consider if you are looking to preserve your assets and pass a legacy onto your family. Fortunately for Ohioans, there is a statewide program that helps you specifically plan for those costs.

Ohio Partnership for Long Term Care Insurance

The Ohio Partnership for Long Term Care Insurance helps individuals in Ohio prepare for the
expenses that long term care so often brings. Long term care can be wildly expensive, especially if you need facility care rather than home care, and if you haven’t developed a specific strategy to pay for those costs, you may be stuck spending all of your assets on that care. Long-term care is for individuals who need assistance with basic daily tasks such as dressing, bathing, and eating. Whether it is from recent surgery, a bad fall, or a chronic disease, long-term care is not an uncommon occurrence.

It is estimated that 70% of all Americans over the age of 65 will need long term care at some point in their lives. That is an extraordinarily high risk when thinking about the need for insurance, especially when compared to the risk of an automobile accident or a house fire, both of which have a risk of less than 1%, but both of which we all plan for diligently.

Planning for long term care makes financial sense in the context of retirement planning. Because care is expensive, and unfortunately, so few people are planning for care, it’s not uncommon for someone who needs care to turn to their loved one for care or be forced to spend down their assets to qualify for Medicaid. The Ohio Partnership for Long Term Care Insurance can help you avoid doing either of those.

How Does It Work?

The partnership program works like this: you purchase a qualifying Long Term Care Insurance policy in the state of Ohio and by doing so, you not only create a separate pool of wealth to pay for that care later down the road, but you also create a second safeguard for your finances. Should you happen to need care for longer than your policy period specifies, you will not have to spend down your assets in order to enroll in Medicaid, which is the standard procedure. The program exists to encourage Ohio residents to plan for the cost of long term care in order to help reduce the crippling burden on the state government, who, along with the federal government, currently picks up most of the tab for long term care expenses.

In order to obtain a qualifying policy, it’s best that you work with an independent Long Term Care Insurance agent. In order to be eligible for the partnership program, your insurance policy must contain the rider of Inflation Protection, which helps grow the value of your benefits to keep pace with inflation. This helps ensure that your policy won’t be worthless 20 or 30 years down the road when you actually need care.

Long Term Care Insurance can provide an invaluable benefit during retirement and waiting, or failing, to plan for the cost of long term care can quickly devastate your finances and leave you wondering where you went wrong. To learn more about the Ohio Partnership for Long Term Care Insurance, visit the state’s website here. You can learn just how much long term care costs in Ohio here.

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Home Care Costs in Ohio Lower than National Average

Ohioans looking at the cost of long term care may be shocked to find how expensive it is. Most people, regardless of the state they live in, are. Fortunately, costs of home health care in Ohio are lower than the national median cost. Despite the lower cost, few would call it affordable, which highlights just how crucial it is to plan ahead for long term care.

Home Care Wins in Public Eye

Long term care isn’t something most people spend their time thinking about it, and for good reason. Who wants to picture themselves elderly, frail, and in need of help just to get around? Not most people, I would imagine. But thinking about ourselves in this way can help us get a better grasp on our retirement savings and plan for future costs that we might otherwise not be prepared for. Long term care is a daunting subject, but Ohioans can help themselves by establishing a plan to cover the costs ahead of time.

If long term care is a subject people avoid thinking about, nursing homes top the list of dreadful thoughts. Truth be told, few people want to end up in a nursing home and many even say they would rather die than live in a nursing home. If long term care is inevitable, most people want to receive that care in the comfort of their own home, surrounded by their community and in a familiar environment in which they feel at ease. Preferring home care over nursing home care doesn’t make it happen, though. Wishful thinking doesn’t accomplish much, but taking action to set up the appropriate plans does.

Cost of Home Care in Ohio

The cost of home care in the state of Ohio runs at a median cost of $43,472 annually, according to the 2014 Genworth Cost of Care Survey. While this cost may seem astronomical to some, when you consider the fact that it is actually less than half of the annual cost of a room in a nursing home, you begin to see things in perspective and understand one of the many reasons people prefer home care. The median cost of home care in Ohio is less than the national median cost, which is currently $45,188 for a year of care from a home health aide.

The minimum cost of home health care is $13/hour, which ends up being just over $27,000 a year for care. The maximum cost of home health care is $31/hour, which can result in a year’s worth of care costing more than $64,000, based on a 40 hour work week. Ohioans are fortunate that their costs are on par, if not less, when compared to the national average. Despite the lower end cost, though, it’s still important to develop a plan to pay for that care. That’s where Long Term Care Insurance comes in.

Planning Ahead

If you are in your 40s or 50s (or older) and haven’t yet considered Long Term Care Insurance, now is the time to do so. It’s important to buy a policy when you are still in good health to help you obtain the lowest premium rates possible, so delaying the purchase will only increase what you pay.

We have compiled a list of tips to help Ohioans better understand the ins and outs of Long Term Care Insurance.

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Cost of Long Term Care in Ohio

In early 2014, LTC Tree’s Analytics department found that Long Term Care costs in Ohio vary less than in 36 other states.  Cost of care in Ohio ranges from a high in Columbus of $87,000 for a private nursing home room all the way to $12,870 for Adult Day Health Care in Cleveland.

How to Plan

If you’re considering Long Term Care planning, there are several important factors to consider personally in addition to just the cost of care in your area.  Many consumers look at Long Term Care Insurance as a hedge.  You may buy a policy and never use it, so it often makes sense to partially insure your risk.  For example, rather than buying a policy that pays the full $7,250 monthly cost of care, a resident of Columbus may buy a policy that pays $4,500 monthly, with the idea that it will take a large bite out of the Long Term Care cost and supplement other income coming in monthly.

Request Quotes

Without knowing the cost of insurance premiums, it’s hard to know how much insurance is too much.  Build some exact quote comparisons by calling us at 614-902-3900 to speak with an Ohio State licensed independent insurance agent.

Cost of Care in Ohio by City

Where Will I Need Care?

According to industry statistics, a large portion of Long Term Care claims start in the home.  Anyone who’s helped put a parent in a nursing home can probably attest to the fact that dad or mom could have used some help at home prior to entering a facility.  The issue is, too many families are broadsided by the whole universe of Long Term Care.  Children have their own lives to attend to, and suddenly are removed from their daily routines to help their parents, who may not have planned for LTC at all.

75% of Long Term Care Starts In-Home.

With so many Long Term Care claims starting at home, it’s not surprising that 65% of claims end in the home as well, meaning that if you have an LTC insurance policy, the odds that you remain at home the entire time you’re on claim are actually pretty high.  Only when your situation escalates to needing more intensive Assisted Living or Nursing Care would it make sense to leave the home.

Many Long Term Care Policies Cover Non-Agency Caregivers

Ask your insurance representative whether the company they are recommending covers “non-agency” caregivers.  Not all policies sold in Ohio will allow for this, and it may be important to you.  Home Health agencies play an important role in helping their clients find trusted caregivers, but you want the flexibility to choose virtually any licensed provider regardless of their affiliation with an agency.  This simple fact alone can help keep your Long Term Care costs down.

How Will You Pay?

With the cost of care averaging around $50,000/year in Ohio, it’s important to consider which assets you’ll liquidate to cover the cost of Long Term Care.  With economic cycles being unpredictable, many Ohioans find it sensible to protect themselves from the high risk  of needing Long Term Care with a modest insurance policy.  

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