Veterans Journal: Long-term care benefits for veterans protect your retirement

Published by George W. Reilly in Providence Journal

 

A long-term care event for a veteran or any adult can happen at any age, and the potential financial and emotional strain that comes with it can have an impact on you, your family and your loved ones.

Did you know millions of Americans require long-term care during their lifetime, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which includes the need for either cognitive or physical assistance with everyday tasks such as bathing, eating and dressing.

Unfortunately, traditional health insurance, including TRICARE or TRICARE for Life, does not pay for the chronic, ongoing assistance with daily living that is most often associated with long-term care.

As a member of the armed services, you are entitled to apply for benefits provided by the Department of Veterans Affairs, although several factors come into play when determining eligibility. For this reason, and to ensure you are prepared for any situation, it is important to understand how VA benefits work so you can form a clear understanding of your traditional health-care benefits as well as what a long-term care event might mean for retirement planning.

The VA health benefits program provides coverage for long-term care, but you must qualify for the program. The VA determines the number of veterans who can be enrolled in the program based on congressional funding allocated each year. Due to the limited availability of enrollments, the VA has established eight separate priority groups (see VA Health Care Eligibility online at www.military.com/benefits/veterans-health-care/va-health-care-eligibility.html) to categorize enrollees and determine the level of benefits they are entitled to or whether the potential enrollee is eligible at all.

Eligibility to receive long-term care benefits depends on many factors, including service-connected disability status (70 percent or greater — see the VA’s Federal Benefits for Veterans, Dependents, and Survivors online at https://bit.ly/2zcGyLv), current income levels, and even your ability to contribute to the cost of care.

Members of the uniformed services seeking long-term care benefits may find they are unable to meet the VA’s eligibility criteria. Long-term care can be expensive, and service members often rely on the VA to cover the associated costs. Depending on your eligibility status in the VA benefits program, the level of coverage available to you may not be enough. For this reason, you may want to consider applying for standalone long-term care insurance like the plan offered through the Federal Long Term Care Insurance Program at https://bit.ly/2tUYTau.

FLTCIP provides long-term care insurance for enrollees who are federal and U.S. Postal Service employees and annuitants, active and retired members of the uniformed services, and their qualified relatives.

With benefits designed specifically for active and retired members of the uniformed services since 2002, the FLTCIP offers a good way to help protect your savings and assets should you or your loved ones need long-term care. Designed to provide solutions for a range of financial situations, this employer-sponsored program has grown to be the most successful and used program of its kind, providing comprehensive coverage for more than 270,000 people.

Certain family members, or qualified relatives, are also eligible to apply even if the veteran does not. Qualified relatives include spouse, domestic partner, parents, parents-in-law and adult children.

To learn more about the FLTCIP’s benefits and features or to find the average long-term care costs in your geographic area, visit online at LTCFEDS.com. Certain medical conditions or combinations of conditions will prevent some people from being approved for coverage. You need to apply to find out if you qualify for coverage.

The Federal Long-Term Care Insurance Program is sponsored by the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, insured by John Hancock Life & Health Insurance Company and administered by Long Term Care Partners, LLC.

For personalized assistance, call (800) 582-3337 or TTY (800) 843-3557 to speak or interact with a program consultant available to answer any questions and provide step-by-step information on plan design and the application process.

 

Share this:
Share this page via Email Share this page via Stumble Upon Share this page via Digg this Share this page via Facebook Share this page via Twitter

If you enjoyed this post, please consider to leave a comment or subscribe to the feed and get future articles delivered to your feed reader.

Leave Comment