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Who Pays for Long-Term Care?
People pay for long-term care in a variety of ways. These include: using the personal resources of individuals or their families, long-term care insurance, and some assistance from Medicaid for those who qualify. Medicare, Medicare supplement insurance, and the health insurance you may have at work usually will not pay for long-term care.
Individual Personal Resources
Individuals and their families generally pay for part or all of the costs of long-term care from their own funds. Many use savings and invest- ments. Some people sell assets, such as their homes, to pay for their long-term care needs.
Medicare
Medicare’s skilled nursing facility (SNF) benefit does not cover most nursing home care. Medicare will pay the cost of some skilled care in an approved nursing home or in your home but only in specific situations. For example, the SNF benefit only covers you if a medical professional says you need daily skilled care after you have been in the hospital for at least three days and you are receiving that care in a nursing home that is a Medicare-certified skilled nursing facility. While Medicare may cover up to 100 days of skilled nursing home care per benefit period when these conditions are met, after 20 days beneficiar- ies must pay a co-insurance fee.
Medicare Supplement Insurance
Medicare supplemental insurance is private insurance that helps pay for some of the gaps in Medicare coverage, such as hospital deducti- bles and excess physicians’ charges above what Medicare approves. Medicare supplement policies do not cover long-term care costs. You must have Medicare Part A and Bart B to buy a medigap policy. You can buy the policy from any insurance company that's licensed in your
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