A Landmark Court Ruling Now Makes it Easier for MN Families to Protect Their Homes and Savings from Long-Term Care and Nursing Home Costs.
If you are reading this, then you, a parent, friend, family member or other loved one is probably concerned about what you can do to protect your home and life savings from the high costs of long-term care or a nursing home. And you have good reason to be concerned. According to studies, 67% of Americans over 65 will need some type of long-term care during their lifetime - and the costs are staggering.
Genworth Financial, one of the largest providers of long-term care insurance in the country, publishes an annual guide to long-term care costs. In 2020, the average cost of care nationwide was $105,850 per year. Minnesota's costs are actually higher than the national average. According to Genworth, the average monthly cost for a home health aide in the twin cities was $6483 per month. The average costs for an assisted living facility was $4797 per month. A semi-private room in a nursing home was $11,285 per month and a private room in a nursing home was $12,167 per month.
Not only are costs high, they are increasing rapidly. Genworth notes that between 2004-2020, home health aide costs increased 30.22%, private nursing home costs increased 62.38% and an assisted living facility increased a whopping 79.17%.
The study also notes that men stay in care an average of 2.2 years and women average 3.7 years. So if a man had an average stay in a private room in a nursing home in MN, that would costs him and his family $321,208. If a woman had an average stay in a private room in a nursing home in MN, that would cost her and her family $540214. That means a married couple could be looking at $861,422, or more, and that is based on 2020 costs.
Many families mistakenly believe that these costs are covered by Medicare. However, Medicare only covers limited stays following a hospital stay. These costs are also not covered by normal health insurance. That means you either need to cover these costs yourself - and do you have $1 million dollars or more laying around to cover these costs - or you need to llok to government benefits.
Government benefits via either the VA or Medicaid, known as medical assistance in MN, are the number one way the middle class pays for long-term care and nursing home costs across the country. However, the programs have strict requirements that can cause families to be left broke in order to qualify. However, federal law specifically allows you to use certain planning strategies to protect your hme and savings from the high costs of care.
Despite partnering with the federal government to cover these costs, until recently Minnesota refused to follow federal law. That means Minnesotans were paying their hard-earned tax dollars to the federal government to cover the costs of people in other states that were allowed to protect their homes and savings, while not being able to do the same thing in Minnesota.
Well, NO MORE! The Minnesota Court of Appeals just ruled that since Minnesota partners with the federal government to help cover the costs of care for Minnesotans, it must also follow federal law. That means you can now legally protect your home and life savings from the skyrocketing costs of long-term care and a nursing home. You have been paying for other people, in other states, to do this for years, and now you can use the very same planning strategies available to others under federal law.
If you want to protet your home and life savings, give us a call today at 763-420-5087 to schedule a planning strategy session to learn how you can protect your home and life savings. We are also hosting a FREE online workshop which you can register for by clicking here or by clicking the link below.
You've worked hard. You've played by the rules. Your home and your life savings belong to you and your family. You should get to keep them. We can help! Give us a call today at 763-420-5087 to schedule your planning strategy session.
