Questions about long-term care insurance prior to my appt at ALS Center next week

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MupstateNY

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Joined
Aug 15, 2022
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424
Reason
PALS
Diagnosis
11/2022
Country
US
State
NY
Background: a neurologist who tested me due to weakness in thumb had concerns about the test results and some other symptoms including slurred speech. He made an urgent referral to an ALS Center for evaluation. My appointment is about a week from now. I'm thinking about purchasing long-term care insurance before I go, but I have some questions.

1. I'm dual-eligible for Medicare and Medicaid, and I don't expect that to change. Does this mean that I don't need to get long-term care insurance?

2. I looked at the health questionnaire required if I utilize the discount available to me, due to my husband's retiree status at the university he worked at for many years. Here's the question I'm wondering about: "Have you ever received medical advice, consultation or treatment for any of the following illnesses?" One of the items on the list is "Muscular or Neurological Conditions causing Limits." (I think they mean functional limitations.) I'm wondering whether the appointment I had with the neurologist would be considered "consultation" for the quoted condition. Note that I had never even heard of ALS until the neurologist shared his concerns when he was done testing me.

3. The questionnaire wants to know when I last saw a doctor and whether I'm under the care of any specialists. Well, yes, I do see some specialists. For example, recently I've seen the hand surgeon who will fix my ulnar nerve problem, the ENT about laryngitis that I've had for several months, the neurologist of course, a back specialist because I've had several compression fractures of the back, due to osteoporosis, the endocrinologist because there was an osteoporosis medication that caused my calcium to go dangerously high, and we had to figure out whether the high calcium was simply due to the osteoporosis medication (FORTEO) I started last November, or whether I have a parathyroid adenoma (conclusion reached today, no adenoma). So, at the age of 67, I've been a pretty active consumer of medical services in the past 9 months or so. (a) Do I have to tell the insurer or insurance agent all these details? (b) Will insurance companies be reluctant to insure me due to these things? (c) Will I have to sign consent for them to obtain a copy of all my medical records?

Thank you, everyone in this forum, for your willingness to share what you've learned with others.
 
I'm sorry to hear that ALS is a possibility, Upstate. If you do have it, we will support you however we can.

Medicaid and LTC plans are two different things. It would be great to have both, but yes, I would expect rejection if there is medical underwriting, which it sounds like there is.

If you don't disclose everything they ask for, and they find out you left something out, they can cancel coverage and potentially ask for benefits back if you are using them.

I imagine you will be asked to sign a records release if you get to the "more information requested" stage of underwriting, if it is not on the application you are completing now.

Best,
Laurie
 
Thank you, lgelb. I'm going to give it a try. Will try to post again with an update. Maybe the osteoporosis will be enough of a red herring to distract them from the neurological stuff.
 
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