LETTERS TO
THE EDITOR
Dear Editor:
I read the article “Alternatives to LTCI” (February HIU) with great interest since
my wife and I have written more than $750,000 in checks to pay for our parents’
long-term care needs during the last 16 years. Fortunately, some of the costs
($313,000) have been covered by LTCI, but not nearly enough, since none had complete coverage and one parent had none. My point is that I am very aware of the
LTC situation through personal family experience. Their income has covered many
of the additional uncovered expenses, but not all.
I am writing to alert you to an error in the article. The information in the section
titled “Medicare Misconceptions and Hard, Cold Facts” did not have the correct
hard, cold facts. The daily copay of $96.40 in the second paragraph is the cost of
Part B insurance premium, not the correct copay for long-term care cost. The correct copay cost for 2009 is $133.50 per day and has been more than $100 per day for
many years. That’s only a 38% error, but it contributes to the misconceptions about
what Medicare pays.
In addition, not mentioning the copay is only paid through the 100th day if eligible for rehabilitation and skilled care is another oversight. This omission implies the
copay may continue indefinitely. (None of our parents ever had Medicare payments
that lasted the first 100 days.)
I realize this is an article on annuities, not LTC, but the facts that are presented
should be accurate. I have written this in an attempt to stop the continued misconceptions of what Medicare pays and what the American public is taught. It is important that our industry does not contribute to the problem.
HIU
Volume 57, No. 4
Managing Editor .................. Martin Carr
(703) 276-3816
mcarr@nahu.org
Director of Advertising .... Jim Hostetler
(919) 266-1843
jhostetler@nahu.org
Associate Editor....................Min Shepherd
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mshepherd@nahu.org
Publisher ...................... Janet Trautwein
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Continued on page 72
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CORRECTION
In the March issue we published a list of the 2008 HUPAC contributors.
James Stenger of the New Jersey AHU and Jeffrey Gennaro of the Greater
Phoenix AHU were inadvertently left off the list. James is a Capitol Club
member; in addition, his company also contributes at the Capitol Club
level for the HUPAC Administrative Fund. Jeff is also a Capitol Club contributor and serves as the Arizona AHU’s legislative chair.
Other individuals were unintentionally wrongly categorized for their
HUPAC Contributions in 2008:
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