Insurance

Over the years, the state of Ohio has been weighed down with the increasing demand for long term care of its older residents. In 2003, Ohio ranked seventh with the highest number of adult population. The majority of adults receive care in their homes and assisted living facilities. This has driven the state government from bolstering programs to help Ohioan seniors avail long term care.

The Genworth Financial released the survey on the costs of care in United States for 2010. In the report, Ohio's average annual nursing home cost for private room amounts to $74,825 while semi-room costs $67,890.Also, many care-giving families would find it hard to keep up with the care of an old loved one as the average cost for Medicare-certified home health aide is $42,328 and $39,330 for an assisted living facility.

Ohioans without private long term care insurance must expect to pay those services on their own or wait until their assets are low enough to meet Medicaid asset threshold. To qualify for Medicaid in Ohio, individuals must have total assets of $1,500 while couples should have $2,250.

The problem with long term care overwhelms the state of Ohio and puts adverse pressure on state budget, particularly Medicaid. In 2001, Medicaid spent a total of $2.3 billion for long term care, while Ohioan families also spent nearly $2 billion from their personal finance and resources. Through this, the state government decided to adopt the partnership long term care insurance as effort to help cut down excessive expenditure that falls heavily on Medicaid and help its residents manage their own care.

Ohio Long Term Care Partnership Program
The Partnership Program of Ohio was established on September 1, 2007 under the Ohio Revised Code 5111.18. The major role of this partnership program is the same with other states, which is to market affordable and competitive policies, so that Ohioans will not depend on Medicaid for their future long term care needs.

The special feature of partnership policy that no other policies provide is the Medicaid asset protection. Every dollar that pays the policyholder's benefits is equal to the amount that can be protected should an individual applies for Medicaid coverage. For example, if the policy has paid $40,000 for LTC benefits, an individual may preserve $41,000 of assets but still qualify for Medicaid assistance.

The next feature is the inflation protection. A 3% compound inflation protection must be offered in partnership policies that were issued to policyholders aged 60 or below, and 3% simple inflation protection for those aged 61 to 75. However, inflation protection is optional for those on or over the age 76.

Last is the reciprocity agreement. Policyholders can use the partnership policy in other states aside from the state where they purchased the policy to continue the benefits. You may visit Ohio's official website http://www.jfs.ohio.gov/ohp to know the requirements regarding Medicaid eligibility. Private insurance policies bought on or after August 12, 2002 may be exchanged to partnership policy from an authorized or participating insurance company.