December 2016

Dear Clients, Colleagues, and Friends: A couple weeks ago, I read an article on LehighValleyLive.com entitled How to prevent long-term care plans from becoming a crisis. It discusses the importance of financially planning for long-term care in the event of chronic incapacity. The article quotes someone as saying that Medicaid, a public benefits program, is an “option for some people” but “the only problem is you have to be destitute to qualify.”

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid has announced the Medicare premiums, deductibles, and coinsurances for 2017. After holding steady at $104.90 a month for four years, the standard Medicare Part B premium that most recipients pay will rise 4 percent to about $109 a month.  However, approximately 30 percent of beneficiaries will see their Part

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is increasing the amount taxpayers can deduct from their 2017 taxes as a result of buying long-term care insurance. Premiums for "qualified" long-term care insurance policies (see explanation below) are tax deductible to the extent that they, along with other unreimbursed medical expenses (including Medicare premiums), exceed 10 percent of

While you are eligible to apply for Medicare when you are 65, there are circumstances where you might not want to, particularly if you are working full time for a larger employer or contributing to a health savings account. However, there can be penalties if you don't sign up at the right time, so it

John Hancock Financial, owned by Manulife Financial Corp., a Canadian firm, is pulling out of the long-term care insurance market this December. John Hancock has been one of the largest long-term care insurance providers in the United States with over 1.2 million outstanding policies. These policies will remain in effect, but no new policies will