Maximize Your Medicare (2018 edition)

tain criteria are met. For example, if you cannot perform 2 ADLs or if you have been diagnosed with a terminal condition that will require skilled nursing care, then extended benefits may allow you to collect the benefits, and use those benefits to pay for custodial care or skilled nursing care. If the entire death benefit is not completely used, then it is frequently the case that the remainder is paid to your beneficiary/beneficiaries.

Now, this same type of benefit is available in a limited set of term life insurance policies.

If this sounds complicated, it is. There are a number of reasons that contacting an expert would be in order. Just like standalone LTCi, the “fine print” regarding the criteria that must be fulfilled in order to receive benefits varies among carriers. In addition, there may be tax implications, depending on the amount of benefits received. After advising a wide variety of Medicare beneficiaries, it is challenging to distinguish among a dizzying number of options.

Most importantly, the purchase of any interest in any financial contract (and this is a financial contract) must be appropriate for your individual financial situation. For example, a Certified Financial Planner™ would need to fulfill a fiduciary duty to you, which means that he/she would be prohibited from making a financial recommendation, if it did not fit your situation.

Advertisements: Treasure or Trash?

A week may not pass by, and certainly not a month: you have received a mailing which promotes lower health insurance costs. Some are legitimate, and unfortunately, some are not. Turn on the TV, and you get the same thing; commercials about Medicare are everywhere. This is particularly true at the end of every third quarter, and through the end of each calendar year. There are just a few things that you must keep in mind.

First, you should keep all mail from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), and mail from The Department of Health and Human Services. It is the official mail from the U.S. Government. The — 128 —