Long-term care insurance: it's a health-care benefit you might want to consider for your employees.Family episodes of care giving can have a tremendous impact on employees and employers. Here are some facts: * Today, 12.8 million Americans need assistance with everyday activities. Forty percent of them are working age adults between the ages of 18 and 64. * About 50 percent of Americans will need long-term care long-term care (LTC), n the provision of medical, social, and personal care services on a recurring or continuing basis to persons with chronic physical or mental disorders. at some point in their lives. * The average national cost of a nursing home is now $181 per day or $66,065 per year. So what can employers do to ease the loss of productivity of their employees who need time to care for family members? These are among the most commonly asked questions: What is long-term care insurance? Long-term care insurance is a policy designed to pay for caregiving services in the community such as assisted living as·sist·ed living n. A living arrangement in which people with special needs, especially older people with disabilities, reside in a facility that provides help with everyday tasks such as bathing, dressing, and taking medication. , home health care, nursing homes and adult day care. This policy protects assets and provides families with choices of care and peace of mind. What value is there to the employer to offer this benefit? * When employers offer this benefit to employees and their family members, they are often perceived as caring, creating goodwill between employer and employee. Goodwill can result in employee retention, which can increase productivity. * Some employees are reducing their hours or leaving the workforce altogether to take on the new role of care giving, which is affecting the workforce. When families own a long-term care policy, the employee can maintain employment because he/she is not required to be available for 100 percent of the care giving for a parent or relative. * Regardless if the employer pays or it is structured as a voluntary benefit, there is a sponsored discount on the LTC LTC abbr. lieutenant colonel premium for employee and family member. If employers pay for the LTC benefit, it can be tax deducted de·duct v. de·duct·ed, de·duct·ing, de·ducts v.tr. 1. To take away (a quantity) from another; subtract. 2. To derive by deduction; deduce. v.intr. as a business expense. What options are there for structuring this benefit? Employers can fully fund the benefit for all employees, and it can be a tax deduction Tax deduction An expense that a taxpayer is allowed to deduct from taxable income. tax deduction See deduction. based on the tax structure of the company: * C corporations--premiums are totally deductible That which may be taken away or subtracted. In taxation, an item that may be subtracted from gross income or adjusted gross income in determining taxable income (e.g., interest expenses, charitable contributions, certain taxes). . * S corporations, LLCs, sole proprietors and contract employees all use a sliding premium scale percentage. * Employers can provide an executive "carve out Carve out Usually occurs when a company decides to IPO one of their subsidiaries or divisions. The company usually only offers a minority share to the equity market. Also known as equity carve out. " (100 percent paid benefit for upper management/partners) and voluntary payroll deduction deduction, in logic, form of inference such that the conclusion must be true if the premises are true. For example, if we know that all men have two legs and that John is a man, it is then logical to deduce that John has two legs. for all other staff. * Shared risk option in which the employer pays a portion of benefit and employee pays a portion (payroll deduction). * All voluntary benefit for employees through either payroll deduction or direction bill. What happens to the benefit when an employee leaves? Whether the long-term care is paid for by the employer or employee funded, the benefit is portable. This is one benefit the employee can take with them when they leave employment. We are all living longer and managing chronic conditions better than ever before. The reality is that at the end stage of any chronic condition, there will be a need for caregiving or a level of assistance. One day, long-term care insurance could make a significant difference in your life. The employer is in a prime position to extend a family benefit that has a value beyond the historic employee benefit option. Nancy Boari, M.A., is a long-term care specialist at The Stein Stein , William Howard 1911-1980. American biochemist. He shared a 1972 Nobel Prize for pioneering studies of ribonuclease. Group, Northwestern Mutual Financial Network The Northwestern Mutual is a large mutual company based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. It is marketed as the Northwestern Mutual Financial Network. Founded in Janesville in 1857, it is one of the nation's largest direct provider of individual life insurance in the United States. in Troy, a member of the Detroit Regional Chamber. |
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