Overview

Protecting against the financial and health risks associated with aging are at the heart of the following government supported and private programs. Also, common fraudulent schemes targeting seniors. Last update 9.21.20
Picture
Government Sponsored
 
Medicare
Medicare is a national social insurance program for Americans aged 65 and older who have worked and paid into the system. Administered by the U.S. federal government since 1966, about 30 private insurance companies provide coverage under the program.

Original Medicare is administered directly by the federal government and has two parts:
  • Part A (Hospital Insurance) covers most medically necessary hospital, skilled nursing facility, home health and hospice care. It is free if you have worked and paid Social Security taxes for at least 40 calendar quarters (10 years); you will pay a monthly premium if you have worked and paid taxes for less time.
  • Part B (Medical Insurance) covers most medically necessary doctors’ services, preventive care, durable medical equipment, hospital outpatient services, laboratory tests, x-rays, mental health care, and some home health and ambulance services. You pay a monthly premium for this coverage. 
  • Medicare Part C  enables private health insurance companies, such as HMOs and PPOs, to provide Medicare benefits. These private health plans are known as Medicare Advantage plans and you can choose this option instead of Original Medicare. Medicare Advantage plans must offer the benefits of Parts A and B of the Original Medicare, but have different rules, costs and coverage restrictions.
  • Medicare Part D subsidizes the cost of prescription drug plans and prescription drug insurance premiums. Individuals on Medicare are eligible for prescription drug coverage under a Part D plan if they are signed up for benefits under Medicare Part A and/or Part B. Beneficiaries obtain the Part D drug benefit through two types of plans administered by private insurance companies: the beneficiaries can join a standalone Prescription Drug Plan (PDP) for drug coverage only, or they can join a public Part C health plan that jointly covers all hospital and medical services covered by Medicare Part A and Part B at a minimum, and typically covers additional healthcare costs not covered by Medicare Parts A and B including prescription drugs.
  • Medicare Supplement Insurance (Medigap) is available through private companies to help pay some of the health care costs that Original Medicare doesn't cover, such as copayments, coinsurance, deductibles, and medical care when you travel outside the United States. If you have Original Medicare and you buy a Medigap policy, Medicare will pay its share of the Medicare-approved amount for covered health care costs and then your Medigap policy pays its share. A Medigap policy is different from a Medicare Advantage Plan. Advantage plans are ways to get Medicare benefits, while Medigap policies only supplement your Original Medicare benefits. A primer on Medigap Coverage.                         

More on Medicare​
Medicaid
This is a health insurance program for low-income families and children, pregnant women, the elderly, and people with disabilities in the United States. The federal government provides part of the funding and sets guidelines for the program, and states administer the program. Medicaid benefits vary somewhat between states, and may have a different name.
 
Social Security
In the United States, taking Social Security benefits is one of the biggest financial decisions a person can make. You can start collecting at age 62, wait until the standard age 66, or suspend benefits until 70 and then start collecting 32 percent higher benefits for the rest of your life. However, figuring what your benefits are on your own is nearly impossible. 

Social Security’s Handbook has 2,728 separate rules governing its benefits, and counselors at the local Social Security offices routinely provide the wrong information. There is also a website, Maximize My Social Security, that was developed by an economics professor to help sort everything out. The site charges a $40 annual license per household.

When to take Social Security and How to Maximize Benefits:
How will Social Security funding shortfall effect you: Wikipedia, CBSNews
More about retirement planning.
 Picture
Private

Funeral/Burial Insurance
The term funeral insurance describes any insurance policy or other legal contract purchased with the intent of providing for final expenses. The amount of funeral insurance coverage depends on how much you want final expenses to cost. The average cost of a funeral was more than $7,000 in 2014, according to the National Funeral Directors Association, and that doesn't include the cost of a cemetery plot, vault, headstone, flowers or obituaries, which can push the total over $10,000. There is no standard type of funeral insurance. In most states, the only people licensed to write a burial policy are life insurance agents and funeral directors.

Hybrid Long-Term Care Insurance
These policies combine long-term care insurance with permanent life insurance policies such as universal life insurance (which, like whole life insurance, includes a savings-investment component that builds up over time).
In the hybrid scenario, a policyholder would withdraw funds from the policy when they are needed for long-term care, and the insurance company pays for care when those funds run out. And if the policyholder dies without having needed expensive long-term care, the heirs receive a death benefit — therefore the premiums paid into the policy are not “wasted."
​
Long-Term Care Insurance 
This is private insurance that is designed to cover long-term personal and custodial care in a variety of settings such as your home, a community organization, or other facilities including nursing home stays. Policyholders are paid a daily amount (up to a pre-selected limit) for services to assist them with activities of daily living such as bathing, dressing or eating.

Long-term care insurance is very expensive and more expensive than in the past. Many state insurance regulators have allowed increases in premiums for existing policies to offset low insurance company interest earnings on their investments. The combination of rising costs and increasingly inadequate benefits have caused many to rethink the value of this insurance option.

Click here to learn about Qualified Long-Term Care Partnership Insurance Plans that are available in every state except Alaska, Hawaii, Illinois, Massachusetts, Missippi, New Mexico, Vermont and Washington D.C. These little-know insurance products are designed to help consumers preserve their assets if they become seriously ill, need nursing home care and see to become eligible for Medicaid, which pays for nearly half of nursing home costs in the U.S.  ​
Dental Insurance
 Common Fraudulent Schemes Targeting Seniors
Issues and Trends
Home Page