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Information about all aspects of finances affected by a serious health condition. Includes income sources such as work, investments, and private and government disability programs, and expenses such as medical bills, and how to deal with financial problems.
Information about all aspects of health care from choosing a doctor and treatment, staying safe in a hospital, to end of life care. Includes how to obtain, choose and maximize health insurance policies.
Answers to your practical questions such as how to travel safely despite your health condition, how to avoid getting infected by a pet, and what to say or not say to an insurance company.

Preparing In Case Of Disability: Long Term

What Insurance Should I Try To Obtain If I Don't Already Have It And Am Not Rich Enough To Pay For My Medical And Living Needs On My Own?

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In no particular order, following are insurances to consider:

Health Insurance

Health Insurance provides access to health care without bankrupting you.

If you have health insurance:

  • Does your plan provide what you need? Does it allow you to go to the doctors to whom you want to go? Review our section on health insurance for information on Evaluating Health Plans.
  • Thanks to today's laws, once you get employer based health insurance you are able to keep some form of health coverage under COBRA and COBRA-like state laws, for up to 29 months as long as you pay the premiums for it. If you are "disabled" as defined by Social Security when you leave work, at the end of the 29 month period, you qualify for Medicare. If you don't qualify for Medicare, HIPAA also makes sure you can convert your group coverage into individual health insurance.

If you don't have health insurance:

  • There are other ways to obtain health insurance in spite of your health condition.

NOTE: Thanks to a federal law known as HIPAA, if you have health coverage at work, you can probably change jobs and not be subjected to a new pre-existing condition exclusion.

To learn more, see: COBRA, How To Obtain Health Insurance, HIPAA.

Life Insurance

Life insurance is no longer only for the people who are left after we are gone. Life insurance, even group life insurance, can be a valuable asset if you become seriously ill because life insurance can quickly be converted to cash while you are still living. It can make a major difference in your lifestyle should your health take a turn for the worse. Plus, when purchased through an employer's plan, life insurance is usually very inexpensive

For more information, see New Uses of Assets -- Life Insurance.

Long Term Disability Insurance

Next in importance to health insurance is a steady source of income if you are unable to work. Trying to get by on just what Social Security pays can be difficult. Having a disability policy that adds just a few hundred dollars a month to Social Security can greatly improve your quality of life.

Readily offered by many large employers, Long Term Disability Insurance is also available regardless of your health condition when offered by an employer -- although as you'll read in Long Term Disability, you usually need to be covered for twelve months before it would cover your current condition.

Long Term Care Insurance

Long Term Care Insurance is not commonly found in employers' package of benefits. However, if your condition is such that it could lead to full-time care in an assisted living facility or in a nursing home it can be as important as health insurance.

Care in a nursing home that is not geared toward curing you is called "Custodial Care." Health plans and Medicare don't cover it. Other than long term care insurance, the only source of coverage for custodial care is Medicaid which can require you to use up most of your assets and income first with some exceptions. There are methods for qualifying for Medicaid.

More employers are including Long Term Care Insurance in their package on an elective basis, either as part of a Cafeteria Plan or as individual coverage paid by payroll deduction. Check out our unbiased information on Long Term Care insurance and see if it is a coverage you need to include in your package.

To learn more, see Medicaid, Qualifying for Medicaid, Cafeteria Plans, Long Term Care Insurance.

Dental and Vision Insurance

Although not nearly as important as health insurance, these coverages will do a lot to improve the quality of your life. They often accompany health insurance in an employer's package of benefits.

To learn more, see Dental Insurance, Vision Insurance.

Review Your Property And Casualty Insurance

Insurance is to protect against the unbearable loss -- whether of your property such as your home burning down or because you become liable to someone else, such as through an automobile accident that's your fault.

To learn about the different types of property and casualty insurance, how to decide what's right for you, and how to save money when purchasing it, see: Property and Casualty Insurance.


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