California Asset Protection News

Metlife Offers Redesigned Asset Protection Policies For New York State Partnership

New York – MetLife is the first carrier to offer redesigned New York State Partnership for Long-Term-Care (NYSPLTC) insurance policies to individuals in the state of New York. These policies were designed to provide more long-term care options to a wide range of New Yorkers.

The goal of NYSPLTC-certified policies is to help protect the financial independence of New Yorkers who may need long-term care services. These are the only policies sold in New York that can provide a special "asset protection" feature. This feature assures that New Yorkers will not be forced to spend down all of their assets to become eligible for lifetime Medicaid coverage for long-term care services should they require them beyond the policy's benefit duration. Without a Partnership-certified policy, New Yorkers can only achieve similar protection against the costs of long-term care by purchasing lifetime or unlimited long-term care insurance coverage, something many New Yorkers may not be able to afford.

There are two types of redesigned policies that provide either total asset protection or dollar-for-dollar asset protection. Under Total Asset Protection policies, all assets are protected, therefore, individuals are not required to spend down assets to qualify for Medicaid. Under the Dollar-for-Dollar Asset Protection policies, assets are protected up to the amount of benefits paid.

"MetLife is excited to be offering this long-term care insurance program to New York residents" said Jodi Anatole, MetLife vice president, Long-Term Care. "The average cost of long-term care for New Yorkers is $22,967 per year for home-based care, $31,532 per year for assisted living facilities, and $97,940 for a semi-private nursing home room. These rising costs point out the importance for consumers to have options that will help to protect the assets they've accrued over their lifetime. We look forward to working with New York State to help individuals protect their assets and prepare for the future."

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	Did You Know?
	A Living Trust is an entity created for the purpose of holding and managing assets A Living Trust is an entity created for the purpose of holding and managing assets for the benefit of the creators of the Trust (the “Trustors”) during their lifetimes and then for the purpose of management and distribution of the assets to the beneficiaries designated by the Trustors. There are various reasons for creating Living Trusts: (a) To avoid probate administration on death of either Trustor. (b) To avoid a court supervised conservatorship in the event of lifetime disability of either Trustor. (c) To provide for the management and distribution of assets during continued administration of the Trust or upon its termination.