longterm ins.

i have longterm ins.my wife also has longterm ins.both retired,and on med-care i am a vet and can go to va.becaue of cost risisg as you know ,does it make sense to keep?we are both 67 yrs.old with no major illness.whave no other coverage.

SAVAGE SAYS: It’s hard to give you an answer without knowing more about your financial situation. If you don’t have very much in the way of savings, you know that Medicaid will take care of your wife if she needs “custodial” care — but that may not be in a very nice place, especially with all the budget crunch continuing, and so many baby boomers eventually needing services. As for you, the VA provides some care, but not for your spouse. And you must be in the VA system, and qualify for this custodial care. Here’s a link to the page that describes the benefits. http://www.va.gov/GERIATRICS/Guide/LongTermCare/VA_Community_Living_Centers.asp#? Before giving up your current policy, you should ask the VA if you would qualify to be covered. Understand that for both Medicaid (for your wife) and VA Community Living, you would have to spend down most of your assets.

If you want to respond to this posting with more details about your amount of savings, assets, and retirement income (I will not post those details), then I could add to my response based on having more knowledge about your situation. Also do you have children or other family members who would take care of you if necessary That’s something to consider also.