A third
simulation, MEDIGAP, tests the idea that the elderly who purchase
medicare supplemental insurance (medigap) would also buy insurance
for long- term care. Like BIGBEN and LOWBEN, this policy is
assumed to be marketed to the elderly as an individual rather
than a group policy. The objective of this alternative is to
introduce a potential link between acute care and long- term
care insurance. People who purchase medicare supplemental insurance
are assumed to buy a policy that covers one year of nursing
home care after a 90-day deductible period and that pays $50
a day (indexed for inflation) for nursing home care. There is
no affordability test, as such, for this simulation. Thus this
option primarily extends medicare supplemental insurance to
encompass short- or medium- term nursing home care. We used
a one-year policy because many medicare supplemental insurance
policyholders would be unable to afford more extensive coverage.
Social Security Administration actuaries estimate that in 1986
these policies would cost $362 a year at issue age 65. (Robyn
Stone, Gail Lee Cafferata, and Judith Sangl, October 1987)
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