Nursing Home Plans

We handle the paperwork and make the phone calls.
We give you the time to take care of yourself and your family.

Asset Shelter Planning · Long Term Care Insurance · Investments with Long Term Care Provisions

If you are concerned about losing your life’s savings or your home to the cost of long-term care, or if someone you love is facing a nursing home stay or is already in a nursing home, we can help.

We can:

• Identify ways for your loved one to receive the care they need, whether it is in their home, a personal care home, or a nursing home.
• Explore your family’s payment options including Medicare coverage, long-term care insurance, Veteran’s benefits, private payment and Medicaid.
• Develop a plan to protect your family’s assets and qualify your loved one for Medicaid as quickly as possible without having to “spend-down” to $8,000.
• Protect most or all of the assets of a healthy spouse still living at home using planning tools such as a Medicaid Qualifying Annuity or commonly misunderstood community spouse protections.
• Ensure the home is protected from a Medicaid Estate Recovery claim.

Asset Shelter Planning

Nursing homes now cost over $300 per day, or in excess of $110,000 per year. Medicare only pays nursing home costs in limited situations and then, even in those cases, only for 100 days. Medicaid, or Medical Assistance as it is called in Pennsylvania, does pay nursing home costs. However, Medicaid is a joint federal-state program for the financially needy. Therefore, there are certain maximum asset levels that the person must “spend-down” to before he or she will qualify for Medicaid.

The Medicaid law is extremely complex and provides many pitfalls for those not familiar with it as well as significant opportunities to legally protect assets from nursing home costs for those well-versed in the Medicaid law.

We have helped hundreds of families navigate this maze. We can explain the law to you as well as how it applies to your situation. We will present you with the options available to you or your family to legally shelter your hard-earned savings.

Long Term Care Insurance

The best time to plan for your own care is while you are still relatively young and healthy!

Long Term Care Insurance – Your Plan A

The best strategy for sheltering your assets from nursing home costs begins with obtaining long term care insurance. The costs of long term care are not covered by health insurance and 50% of us will need expensive long term care in our lifetimes. At Dorko Wealth & Estate Planning, we can provide Long Term Care insurance to those who qualify as part of your overall estate and financial plan.

Insurance Companies

We offer policies from the best-rated insurance companies, including Mutual of Omaha, Genworth, and Lincoln Financial. Our clients also hold policies with John Hancock, CNA, and MetLife. If you have an underwriting issue, we do the work to find the insurance company most favorable to your health situation.

Health Issues?

If you do not qualify for long term care insurance because of health issues, proceed to the next section.

Investments with Long Term Care Provisions

Investments with Long Term Care Provisions – Your Plan B

Perhaps you want a money-back guarantee from your insurance company. Or perhaps you are not insurable, but would like to do all you can to protect your savings from future nursing home costs. Here are some other options available to you:

• Universal Life Insurance with a Long Term Care Benefit. We can steer you to a life insurance policy with a long term care benefit as well as a money back guarantee if you decide to change your mind in the future on this investment.
• Annuities with Long Term Care Benefits. We can match you with the appropriate annuity investment, which will provide you with extra income if you need nursing home care. If you never need care, this investment can continue to grow and can also be available to you and to your family after your passing.