RI Average daily benefit purchased: $ 157 per day.

Long-term care provides support and services when you can’t care for yourself for an extended period of time. It ranges from simple assistance with activities of daily living (for example, getting dressed, and bathing) in your own home, to highly skilled care in a nursing facility. Long-term care insurance is designed to pay some or all of the costs of assisted care when you can no longer take care of your needs on your own. Policy options may include care in a nursing home, assisted living facility, adult day care, or even in your own home.

There are just over 1 million people who call the state of Rhode Island their home. While one of the smaller of the states, according to the US Census, 150,000 of those residents are aged 65 or older. Without Long Term Care Insurance, this rising number of seniors in the Ocean State will put increasing economic stress on families and the state. In 2011, the total Long Term Care Medicad expenses alone (not counting additional, private Long Term Care expenses) in Rhode Island were more than $300 million.

When planning for retirement, Long Term Care Insurance is a key component for securing one’s financial future. Thankfully, residents of Rhode Island have the choice of around 17 great Long Term Care Insurance companies that can help protect their savings in the event they need Long Term Care services.

The Rhode Island Long Term Care Partnership Program was established in 2007. This program is a public-private cooperative program that was designed to help Rhode Island residents finance their own long-term care needs through a private plan, while also protecting their assets if and when their private benefits run out and they need to apply for Medicaid. In other words, the Long Term Care Partnership Program provides dollar-for-dollar asset protection, so that each dollar that a Partnership policy pays out in benefits entitles the policy owner to keep a dollar of their assets if they ever need to apply for Medicaid services. What’s more, people who purchase a Partnership policy may qualify for Medicaid early, before spending down all of their assets. Purchasing a Long Term Care insurance policy through the partnership program means you are not only protected by your policy but also by Medicaid if you ever exceed the benefits of that policy.

More on Rhode Island

In order to prepare its citizens for the serious lack in long-term care planning, Rhode Island residents are eligible to participate in the Rhode Island Long-term Care Partnership. Like most states, Rhode Island has developed a joint effort by the State and private insurers to enable more individuals to purchase Long Term Care Insurance coverage. Awareness of the need for Long Term Care Insurance is still low both in Rhode Island and nationwide. Long Term Care Insurance covers the cost of services such as nursing homes, in-home care, and assisted-living care when one is unable to care for themselves. These costs are not covered by regular health insurance and only by Medicaid if one qualifies, which can be difficult without exhausting all of your assets.

A recent study found that 7 in 10 Americans have made no plans for long-term care and many were not even aware of this type of insurance and what it covers. Furthermore, a full 35% think they will never need long-term care assistance, and given that the Department of Health and Human Services estimates that 67% of all Americans will need long-term care at some point after they pass age 65, there is a huge mismatch between reality and perception here. Thus, many Americans are now at risk of having to exhaust their nest egg or rely on their children or other relative to care for them in retirement should they become unable to care for themselves.

But, through the Rhode Island Long-term Care Partnership, residents can purchase a “partnership policy” that will help them pay for their long-term care needs while protecting their assets, should they need Medicaid. Rhode Island aims to reward its citizens who plan ahead and take proactive steps to protect themselves and their assets. Basically, it works like this: “Under current laws, Rhode Islanders who have more money than the state permits when they need long-term health care services are disqualified from having Medicaid pay for those services. To get the care they need, Rhode Islanders must first spend their own money, even if it means using up any assets (a home, savings, etc.) they may have. In effect, Rhode Islanders must pay out of their own pocket until they are poor enough to qualify for Medicaid.” But, the Rhode Island Long Term Care Partnership addresses this issue by offering dollar-for-dollar Medicaid Asset Protection. This enables participants to shield their assets should they need to apply for Medicaid as normally one is required to exhaust all assets before qualifying for Medicaid’s long-term care coverage.

Highlights of the plan include:

• Dollar-For-Dollar Asset Protection
• As mentioned above, this is a dollar-for-dollar match program and this benefit is not available with non-Partnership policies.
• Policies are State-approved and meet consumer protection standards
• Only top-quality insurers are included in this partnership program.

Are you a resident of Rhode Island who wishes to start planning today for your future and securing all that you’ve worked so hard to achieve? By purchasing a Long Term Care Insurance policy through Rhode Island’s Long Term Care Partnership, you can rest assured that you’ll be covered when you need long-term care services.