Challenges of Affording Holistic Care Without Holistic Health Insurance
In our society, many have become accustomed to relying on insurance to pay for medical expenses. One of the obstacles to obtaining holistic care or even conventional services like dental, vision, audiology, foot care, mental health, fertility issues, and private nursing care is that it is often not a covered service for many plans, making it out of reach for many. Consider these options that may be available to help you afford what you need.
Health Insurance Options for Every Age
Understanding upfront what would be covered under your existing insurance policy is of the utmost importance. For traditional health insurance like PPO, HMO, Medicare and indemnity policies, varying modalities, procedures, or holistic options may be covered, while others may not. Consult with your carrier to learn if it would be covered by providing procedure and diagnosis codes that would apply. Although not holistic health insurance, some holistic health and natural health services may have eligibility. Be sure to inquire about any supplementary insurance benefits you might have that may cover dental work, vision care, mental health and non-traditional health services.
If you have enrolled in a high deductible plan, it may have come attached with a Health Savings Account (HSA), a tax-deferred, tax-favored savings account. In certain cases, the funds you put aside in it can be used for qualified medical expenses that may not normally be covered by traditional insurance plans, including complementary and alternative health care and premiums for long term care insurance. (See IRS Code 213(d) for qualifying expenses).
As with the health insurance plans, it’s important to understand what is allowable before you make your healthcare decision. But even if you can use the funds, the charges may not be eligible for going towards your deductible which means if conventional services are needed, you will have to come up with the necessary funds to satisfy your yearly deductible.
Life Settlements
If you learn that your health insurance plan will not cover your holistic treatment, or extensive healthcare expenses for conventional care, a life insurance policy could provide the necessary funds. The transaction is known as a Life Settlement where many American seniors are discovering that the life insurance policies they bought many years ago no longer meet their needs.No longer is life insurance an “untouchable” product that must always be held until death. Life insurance is merely one asset within an estate or financial portfolio that should be managed for optimum outcomes. Rather than letting a policy lapse, not converting a term policy, or accepting the carrier’s non-forfeiture options, your policies can be appraised on the secondary market where you learn what the policy is worth in cash and as a paid-up policy.
A Life Settlement is the sale of a life insurance policy to a third party (a well-funded institutional financial group) for a lump sum of money, which could yield 3-5 times what an insurance company may provide for directly cashing in that policy with them (the “surrender value”). It is a way to gain immediate cash without incurring debt or disposing of more valuable assets. It can be a practical funding source for retirement and continued care living. Engaging in this transaction is similar to converting your trigger event from “one day” to “today” with a benefit that could be used as you see fit, including for holistic treatment. This may be the closest thing to having holistic health insurance.
It would be appropriate to sell a life insurance policy for the following circumstances:
- A policyholder may want to reduce or eliminate coverage to lower premium costs
- The policyholder has outlived the beneficiary
- The policyholder has lost a spouse or divorced
- Disposed of a business or retired from an insured executive position
- Change in estate or tax situation
- Children or other heirs may be more mature and financially independent
- There is a need to raise cash to pay for immediate medical and/or living expenses
- Gifting a policy for philanthropy and having a tax deduction for fair market value
Long Term Care Insurance Indemnity Policy - A Kind of Holistic Health Insurance for Seniors
As people grow older, it becomes more likely that they will need some form of long-term skilled or custodial care. Medicare covers up to a certain point and then it’s all out of pocket until all your assets are depleted. At that point people have relied on Medicaid, but with budget cuts, the future is uncertain if Medicaid will be available for seniors or those with disabilities. For these lifecare needs, some people have planned ahead and purchased Long Term Care Insurance, which will cover a portion of the costs of such services when the need arises.
The vast majority of plans pay traditional healthcare benefits directly to the caregiver. If you have the opportunity and means to purchase long term care insurance, there is an option available that could help afford holistic health services: an Indemnity Policy. This type of policy, while less common, offers direct-to-beneficiary disbursement, meaning a predetermined monthly amount of money is provided to the insured to use as they please. As with a Life Settlement, this cash comes free of restriction on use and can be your resource of funds for holistic health practitioners and services, nourishing foods and supplements, and health-promoting activities.
An additional positive aspect of an Indemnity Policy is that it eliminates the “Use or Lose it” concern. Should you not want to keep a policy and continue to pay premiums, there is a guarantee of being able to get your money back. If you continue to hold on to the policy but ultimately never need long term care, the policy value remains and can be willed to your heirs. While this option may not be available to everyone (you must meet certain insurer requirements), if you qualify it can be a powerful tool in affording non-traditional healthcare later in life.