is life insurance an asset when comes to medicare?

Good question. To qualify for Medicaid or Medicare you cannot have more than $2,000 in assets. This is in most states. It is best to check if your state is one of them. This is one issue that many seem to side step. They forget that Medicaid and Medicare can be counted as an asset.

Life insurance falls into 2 categories. There is either "whole life" or "term". The one way it will not count against you is if you have the "term" portion. Term life insurance does not affect your eligibility. Whole life insurance is the one that can be counted against you. This is the one that builds up a cash value and can be counted as an asset.

There is one exception with the "whole" life insurance. Does your policy have a face-value of $1500 or less? It will not be counted as an asset this way. Is it more than this amount? It will be counted as a valued asset.

There are a few options for those whose life insurance cash value will count against them.

• You can surrender the policy and spend the value. This may not be an option for those on a fixed-income.
• You can transfer the amount over to your spouse. This value will no longer be yours. Think long and hard before you do this. This may not be a good option for some of you.
• You can use it to pay for your funeral expenses. This is considered an exempt asset. The funeral home will have control over the money then.
• You could take out a loan on the value. This will greatly reduce the death benefit. It will reduce the cash value too. The upside is that the policy will stay in place.

Talk over any and all strategies with your lawyer and insurance company first.

A contract between a policy holder of insurance in which the insurer gives a guarantee of paying a designated beneficiary a particular amount of money for the purposes of exchanging for a premium in the death of who is often the policy holder is referred to as life insurance. Events such as critical illnesses or terminal illnesses can have effects of triggering payments from life insurance plans depending on the terms of the contracts. Funeral expenses may also be included in the life insurance policy benefits.

Terms of life policy contracts describe the existence of limitations of the insured events. Specific types of exclusions are written into one's life insurance contract so that there will be a limit in the liability of the insurance company. Common examples of claims relate to war, suicide, fraud, civil commotion, and riot. There are two major categories of contracts that are life-based. Protection policies: Which are created to provide the insurance holder with a benefit, which is typically in the form of a lump sum payment should a specified event occur and term insurance, which is a common form of a protection policy design. Investment policies can also be included in life insurance plans in which the main objective facilitates the development of capital by single or regular premiums. In the U.S., common forms are universal life, whole life, and variable life policies.

Life insurance can certainly be considered as being an asset when medicare is one's concern as it covers a vast array of one's life. Be sure to contact a life insurance policy customer service representative so that they may be able to assist you with making a decision of acquiring it if it is something that has been of a concern to you. You will not regret making the decision as it is a form of protection that is worth the cost.