Earlier quoted context omitted.
Some states are forcing you to buy LTC insurance. I’ve heard Washington does this through some convoluted laws.
It’s a stealth income tax. Most high income people saw through it and opted out by buying their own LTC (which isn’t indexed to income) and then canceling it once their exemption was recorded.
Financial lessons from my family's experience with long-term care insurance
101–110 of 210 posts
Re: Financial lessons from my family's experience with long-term care insurance
#102Re: Financial lessons from my family's experience with long-term care insurance
#103Earlier quoted context omitted.
The crucial understanding is that incentives are cross aligned because the product is risk coverage. The more immediate/pressing your need for risk coverage, the worse it is for them to sell it to you. The less you need it, the better it is for them to sell it to you and the worse for you to buy it. Pretty different than ice cream or cars or housing. Too many people just think “oh corporate greed” without thinking ab…
Yes indeed. Part of the problem is having “insurance” draining part of the resources. Long term care means it isn’t an “accident,” but a constant recurring cost. Saving the money up front, producing income, and paying directly for what you need is often a better strategy.
And also doesn't consider when the LTC starts. It could start at any time, even before working age.
Re: Financial lessons from my family's experience with long-term care insurance
#104Re: Financial lessons from my family's experience with long-term care insurance
#105Earlier quoted context omitted.
In the Swiss system the private insurance companies are required to be non-profits. The government sets the standard for care and coverage and all the companies can do is compete on price. Basically what Obamacare was originally intended to be before they had to compromise to get it passed.
Who were they compromising with? The Congress had large Democrat majorities in both houses during the ACA legislative process.
Re: Financial lessons from my family's experience with long-term care insurance
#106> they each paid about $14,000 in annual premiums for 10 years, and the daily benefit started at $200 per day. Insurance companies have to make money, but that's not that good of a deal, and the payout isn't that high ($73k annually) considering you won't be doing much else.
$140,000 in premium and $73,000/year in payout seems like a terrible deal for the insurance company. Two sets of my grandparents have needed daily helpers for years . And that’s just for regular day to day care. Not in response to a particular trauma.
Insurance is wonderful when it works, but the conditions for it to work can be quite fragile.
Re: Financial lessons from my family's experience with long-term care insurance
#107Earlier quoted context omitted.
Because your congressman gets lots of donations from doctors and hospitals. Doctors like to drive fancy cars. In places with Catholics, you usually get the bishops advocating for the local Catholic hospital system.
So government (my congressman) IS the problem! Thanks for reinforcing what Reagan said 40 years ago.
Re: Financial lessons from my family's experience with long-term care insurance
#108Healthcare in the US is broken and they won’t let you fix it because the money is too good. Think about the fact that PBMs, which is there to save and manage on pharma is incentivized to promote drug price inflation. That’s just one “small” piece of this clusterf*k. It’s layers and layers of these convoluted system of incentives. As to OP, the simplest solution is to move out of the US early enough or become “poor” e…
Like 5-10% of the US's total GDP gets wasted annually on the layers and layers and layers of healthcare middlemen… for worse outcomes.
Re: Financial lessons from my family's experience with long-term care insurance
#109Earlier quoted context omitted.
Healthcare is little more than a jobs program at this point. I believe it is the largest industry by employment in every single state now. That compounds the problem even further. Really fixing it would put a double digit percentage of people out of work. I'm all for it, but I can see why politicians are hesitant.
> Really fixing it would put a double digit percentage of people out of work. I'm all for it, but I can see why politicians are hesitant. I'd love to hear what you think "really fixing it" is, please share. I can report that all (almost all?) of the hospitals and their networks both big and small in the area I am in have had layoffs this year of admin staff and healthcare professionals (nurses, doctors, etc). They ha…
I'm not that poster, but there's a really easy fix: Just model the system after Hong Kong's.
There's a tax-funded public system available to every citizen, so that everybody gets treatment. In practice, this is mostly utilized by the poor, and for emergencies like broken bones. You can see specialists via the public system, but there can be a wait of weeks to months. This is all effectively free. You'll never see a bill, or the bill will be extremely small. (e.g., $100 for four days of inpatient care.)
There's a private system for those willing to pay. This is unrestrained capitalism with little regulation and no parasitic middlemen. Want to see a specialist right now -- like later this afternoon, or first thing tomorrow morning? Sure. It'll usually be $200 or $300 out of pocket. No insurance necessarily involved. Diagnostics are also super fast -- same day or next day, usually. If you want an elective surgery, or if you want a superior tier of care (like a nicer hospital room, better food, more flexibility re scheduling,) you can pay for it privately... And usually without getting insurance companies involved.
There is effectively no "prescription" system. With very few exceptions for narcotics and certain stimulants, if you need a drug of any kind, you can buy it OTC. This includes steroids, weird nootropics, viagra (lol at needing a prescription for this), and all kinds of stuff. This vastly reduces the burden on the system.
Hong Kong's system is superior in every respect, and it's especially better at treating you like an adult. The American system is simultaneously complex and infantilizing.
Re: Financial lessons from my family's experience with long-term care insurance
#110Earlier quoted context omitted.
$140,000 in premium and $73,000/year in payout seems like a terrible deal for the insurance company. Two sets of my grandparents have needed daily helpers for years . And that’s just for regular day to day care. Not in response to a particular trauma.
It has been a terrible deal. These policies have been a disaster for the industry. They're very expensive and they've raised premiums to cover rising costs, which causes people to drop the policy unless they're sure they'll need it. And then those people often require care for many years, generating massive losses. Insurance is wonderful when it works, but the conditions for it to work can be quite fragile.