ALTCS Enforces Travel Limitations

Q: My husband and I live in Arizona, but most of our family lives out-of-state.  Like many other couples of our age, we like to spend our summers in cooler climates, so we typically stay with our son, who lives in another state, for about four months of the year.  If I apply for the ALTCS program, will ALTCS have any problems with me maintaining this type of a travel schedule?

I should preface this response by reminding you that ALTCS imposes a very strict medical requirement on its members.  As such, if you are healthy enough to maintain a rigorous travel schedule, even spending summers out of state, it could be that you are also too healthy to qualify for the ALTCS benefit.  Of course, being too healthy for ALTCS implies that you do not need long-term care, and will thus not have the associated expenses.  All in all, then, being too healthy for ALTCS should not be too distressing.

As to the question on hand, ALTCS does have a limit on the number of days for which its members can leave the state without losing eligibility, and this limit is 60 days.  The rationale here is certainly not to prevent interstate travel; so much as it is to ensure that ALTCS members are receiving the care that they presumably require.  Again, ALTCS provides long-term care coverage only to those individuals who actually require long-term care.  At least to all outward appearances, an individual who is well enough to forego care for months on end while out-of-state is presumably without a genuine need for long-term care.  At a certain point in time, then, for coverage reasons as well as for general well-being reasons, it will make sense for you and your husband to settle upon one state of residence.

Aging and the Law is authored by the attorneys at JacksonWhite and addresses legal issues that arise for the elderly and their families.  Questions can be sent to firm@jacksonwhitelaw.com.

Click to view all of our Aging and the Law columns.