Dad has a LTC policy to pay for home health. Is it common to pay them with a credit card, or do they get paid directly from the insurance company in FL?

My mother had a LTC policy. Once she qualified for their benefits, It required that she pay out of pocket for the first 60 days, and then the policy would kick in. The health care provider required a cc on file to make sure that any expenses that were not covered by the policy were covered with the cc. After the 60 days, we would get the invoice which was paid with the cc on file, and then I had to submit the invoice to the LTC provider to get reimbursed.

We had to complete all of the paperwork and then file an appeal with the LTC company (I think they thought we would just give up). We paid her agency bills with a credit card and then forwarded the email of her bill to the Insurance company each month. They sent us a check as they wouldn't do direct deposit. BTW, we reached her lifetime maximum in less than 2 years of 2-3 days per week, 8 hours a day.

BTW, having them draft from a credit card is much safer than having the money drafted directly from your LO’s bank account. I would not recommend that. The best situation is if your LO has a credit card or can open one for this purpose with a low credit limit. If that is not feasible then you can open an account for this purpose. It is risky to give any company direct access to your bank account.

My experience with three different agencies is that while most will help file the claim paperwork for you by sending it in to the LTC company, they expect you to pay them directly by check or credit card. The way it has worked for me is that I pay the agency with a check (using my mother’s account and signing as POA), the agency forwards the invoice and notes to the LTC, and the LTC pays based on the policy by direct depositing the claim payment in my mother’s account.
The LTC company will have a form for you to use to set up direct deposit.
Some agencies will not even submit the claim paperwork for you. Instead you have to get the invoice and work notes from them and submit them to the LTC company yourself. That is a lot more paperwork for me so I avoid using those agencies if I can help it. And yes, some agencies require that you have a credit card associated with your account. They want to make sure they get paid. Much like most gyms do if you have ever belonged to one. The agency I am currently using does not require that and they file the claims for me.

MattsQuestion: Yes and then the LTC company should reimburse your father.

On mommas long term care policy the assisted living facility withdraws from her checking account every month and then is suppose to submit the invoice to Northwestern Mutual for momma to get reimbursed. However the facility does not do a very good job of submitting the paperwork. I have to stay on top of them all the time. I can't submit the invoice myself to Nortwestern Mutual because they prefer it coming from the facility so they don't overpay. Pain in the butt!

Yes, that is how I paid for my husband's caregivers. In return, they submitted their invoices/care notes and hours to the LTC agency. The LTC agency reimbursed us. With the LTC company we had, we paid for the first 90 days ourselves. After that period, they took over the payments and waived the yearly premiums.

I am a home Healthcare agency in Florida. His LTC pays the company if he has Medicaid. If it is a private insurance yes a cc is needed and the client submit the invoice. Some companies will submit the invoice, company information if needed and daily notes to the insurance company for you.

Hope this help..
Helping Hands Nurses

My mom's policy is through Genworth. Genworth pays after services have been rendered. Both of the facilities she has been in wanted their money up front, so they drafted her checking account at the first of the month and then submitted the bill to Genworth, who pay into her account after the month is over.

Her current facility had an ownership changeover a few months ago and got behind on billing so that Genworth was into us for about three months. I learned that it was a very simple thing to just upload my copy of the bill into Mom's portal on Genworth's website, so that's what I do every month when I get the bill. It takes all of five minutes, and most of that is hunting for my password. If the facility also sends the bill, Genworth only pays once for the days of service.

My mother has an LTC policy. She pays the home healthcare agency in full by credit card every month, then the agency emails me the invoices. I then upload the invoices to the LTC insurance company website. After they’re received, my mom gets her reimbursement credited to her checking account through direct deposit. This has been our routine for the past 5 years.

How the LTC pays is up to the LTC company. Some pay the Care Agency directly and some are Reimbursement Only which means you pay the Care Agency and the LTC reimburses you for the amount they cover.

The first agency that worked with my Mom had her pay by credit card and the insurance direct deposited reimbursements a week or two later once things got set up.

The second agency offered both credit card or direct from insurance payment.

It might be easier for the agency to accept payment from insurance once someone has had their claim approved and has begun collecting from the policy.

If the card is paid in full every month, the rewards program can be a good deal with one of the 2% cash back programs.

Note that there may be miscellaneous fees that the insurance doesn’t cover. One agency had a small short shift fee if you only needed a 3 hour shift.