Health Care

Generally not. Medicare only covers medically necessary care under Hospital Insurance Part A, and medical insurance under Part B. Long-term care is custodial care given at home or in a nursing home for people with chronic disabilities or lengthy illnesses. Private insurance companies sell long-term care insurance policies. For more information on long-term care insurance, speak to your local CPA or get a copy of "A Shopper's Guide to Long-Term Care Insurance" from the National Association of Insurance Commissioners at 120 W. 12th Street, Suite 1100, Kansas City, MO 64105-1925

Medicaid is a joint federal and state program that pays for health care services for those with low incomes or very high medical bills relative to that person's income and assets. Medicaid pays for nearly half of all nursing home care.

Term Life Insurance covers a person for a period of one or more years. It pays a death benefit only if you die during that term. Generally, it does not build a cash value.

Universal Life Insurance is a flexible policy that lets you vary your premium payments and adjust the face amount of your coverage.

Whole life insurance policies build cash value and covesr a person for as long as he or she lives, as long as premiums continue to be paid.

Accelerated Death Benefit is a feature of a life insurance policy that lets you use some of the policy's death benefit proceeds prior to death.

The Cash Surrender Value is the amount of money you may be entitled to receive from the insurance company when you terminate the life insurance or annuity policy. The amount of cash value will be determined as stated in the policy.

Many people don't realize a medical information file is kept on them. It is similar to your credit report that is used by lenders to consider you for a bank loan. You can request a current copy of your medical information file by writing to the Medical Information Bureau at PO Box 105, Essex Station, Boston MA 02112 or call the bureau at 617-426-3660. If you see a mistake on your report you have the right to request that it be fixed. You will have to prove that the information is incorrect.

` You can avoid early withdrawal penalties and taxation on accumulated interest on a life insurance policy by doing a tax-free exchange into a no-load, commission free variable annuity. Speak to your local CPA about this tax strategy.