Principal, LifeNet Insurance Solutions, Redmond, WA
To the extent that your whole life insurance has enough cash value, you may borrow to pay bills for whatever reason you wish. However, if you are concerned about paying for long term care, and who isn't, your best alternative to having a long term care policy is to investigate those permanent policies with a long term care rider. There are also other methods to pay for care as well, so contact an independent agent for help and some suggestions.
That is a great question! I'm thinking that the circumstances for asking it are not. It seems as if you are asking if the nursing home can take or somehow be paid by your life insurance policy. Is that correct? You will get into some legal ground that I am not able to go, but I feel safe saying that I don't believe there is any way legally that they can take that to pay for services rendered. That said, if this was your ONLY way to pay for the services, and I repeat ONLY, way ( no family, other salable assets, etc.) you can probably assign the policy to them. That transfers ownership of the policy to them, and allows them to name themselves as the beneficiary, so they get paid, and not you, when your loved one passes. That leaves you with no assets for the loved one's funeral, so it's not a real good option. If you've had the policy for a while, it may have a decent amount of cash value built into it that you could borrow from. That would help for a little while, and is a better option. If I'm guessing correctly that this was your intent with this question, please contact me so that we can discuss your options in more detail, okay? Good luck, and thanks for asking!
Nursing homes cannot take your whole life insurance policy away from you, per se. But if you are in the spend down period of going on Medicaid to pay nursing home costs, they will put a limit on how much cash value your Whole Life insurance can have. That amount is around $1,500. If your policy exceeds that amount, you have some choices:
1) There is a law allowing people to keep some of their coverage, while using the rest for long term care expenses.
2) You may be able to assign your policy to a funeral home.
3) If you are looking down the road, you could change ownership of your policy to someone else. But this needs to be done 5 years in advance of going to the nursing home.
4) In some situations, you can put your policy into an annuity.
Please give me a call if you'd like me to help you set up a final expense policy that will be protected if you enter an extended care facility, or to help you figure out what to do with coverage you already have.
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1) There is a law allowing people to keep some of their coverage, while using the rest for long term care expenses.
2) You may be able to assign your policy to a funeral home.
3) If you are looking down the road, you could change ownership of your policy to someone else. But this needs to be done 5 years in advance of going to the nursing home.
4) In some situations, you can put your policy into an annuity.
Please give me a call if you'd like me to help you set up a final expense policy that will be protected if you enter an extended care facility, or to help you figure out what to do with coverage you already have.