If you missed the window on long-term care insurance, you still have one more chance to plan.
Short-term home care insurance covers the first 6 to 12 months of a care event — at home, when the stress is highest. It's affordable, MUCH easier to qualify for than LONG term care insurance, and most people have never heard of it.
Watch this 8 min video, and you'll know IMMEDIATELY if a short term care plan is appropriate for you.
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Who this is designed for
Most of our clients are good savers. Some could write the $5,000–$8,000 monthly check to pay for their care for several months, but definitely not forever — and they'd rather not shoulder 100% of that cost. And when they looked at long-term care insurance, something got in the way.
- Premiums were too expensive by the time they applied for LTC insurance
- One spouse wanted it, the other didn't — and there was no middle ground
- A health issue made qualifying for traditional LTC coverage difficult or impossible
- They just never got around to applying, and now the age window has closed
"A SHORT term care policy is a lot better than a NO term care policy — especially when you never bought a LONG term care policy."
— Brian McArthur, Design My Medicare
If any of that sounds familiar, short-term home care insurance is worth understanding. It won't replace a full long-term care policy — but it covers exactly when your life is most disrupted: the first 6 to 12 months of needing care at home.
I was 76 and assumed nothing was available to me at this point. Brian walked me through the whole thing in one call and had me covered the same week. I wish I'd known about this years ago.
— Lydia, Nevada · Age 76
What it pays — and when
The benefit triggers when YOUR doctor (who knows your needs best) certifies that you cannot perform 2 out of 6 Activities of Daily Living — eating, bathing, dressing, transferring, toileting, and continence — or that you have a severe cognitive impairment.
Once approved, you hire a licensed caregiver, submit receipts, and get reimbursed $150 per day (up to $4,500/month) for every day you receive care at home, for up to 180 days. The days don't have to be consecutive — if family cares for you on weekends for example, you only use 5 of your 180 days that week.
Home care in most markets runs $5,000–$8,000 a month or more. Getting $4,500 back during that window doesn't cover everything — but it takes a real bite out of a cost that catches most families off guard.
For 12 months of coverage, we place two policies from two different carriers side by side. Monthly premiums double, but so does the coverage window.
What the monthly premium costs you by age
While home care can run $5,000–$8,000 a month, the monthly premium for this coverage is a fraction of that — because it covers a shorter window than traditional long-term care insurance. Here's what you'd pay each month to have 6 months of coverage in place:
No traditional long-term care insurer will cover someone in their late 70s or 80s. This short term home care plan will, and it's the LAST opportunity to share the risk of an extended care event with an insurance company. You can even purchase a policy on an elderly parent who lives in a covered state.
How to qualify
Four questions. Four no's and you're approved. That's it.
- 1.Are you currently receiving help with Activities of Daily Living?
- 2.Are you currently in a nursing home, rehab facility, or assisted living?
- 3.Have you been diagnosed or treated for memory loss, Alzheimer's, or dementia in the past 12 months?
- 4.Do you expect to need hospital or skilled nursing care in the next 60 days?
Common questions
Brian McArthur
Brian specializes in Medicare and retirement insurance planning, working with clients across 27 states. His approach: keep every conversation low friction and nonfiction. No forms, no pressure — just honest guidance on what makes sense for your situation.
Ready to talk through your situation?
No forms. No pressure. If it makes sense for you, we'll tell you. If it doesn't, we'll tell you that too. Low friction and nonfiction — that's how we work at Design My Medicare.
Or call directly: (858) 665-2041 — Brian may pick up, even if it's an evening.