Both, and the review comes first. We look at the coverage you have before we talk about anything new. If your plan does call for new coverage, we can help you apply for it, or you can buy it through an agent you already use. Hunter Adair is licensed for life and health insurance in Maryland. Home, auto, and umbrella policies stay with your property and casualty agent.

Enough to cover what your death would leave unpaid. Add up the debts you would want cleared, the income your family would need and for how many years, and the goals you would still want funded, such as college. Subtract the savings and coverage you already have. What is left is the need. Rules of thumb based on a multiple of salary skip most of that, which is why two people with the same pay can need very different amounts. If nobody depends on your income and you have no debt, you may need none at all.

Maybe. The usual reasons for coverage fade by retirement. The children are grown, the mortgage is small or gone, and savings have replaced the paycheck. Other reasons can remain: a pension that shrinks or stops at your death, a spouse who would lose a Social Security check, a child who will always depend on you, or an estate large enough to owe Maryland estate tax. We run the numbers for the survivor before you drop anything, because canceled coverage can be hard or impossible to replace. If the policy is a group plan from work, you usually have a short window after your last day, often 31 days, to convert it or continue it on your own.

Check four things in the plan document: how much it pays, whether the benefit is taxed, how it defines disabled, and whether you can keep it. Group plans commonly replace about 60% of base salary, often with a monthly cap, and bonuses or commissions may not count. Most plans also subtract any Social Security disability benefit from what they pay. If your employer pays the premium, the benefit is generally taxable, so the check is smaller than the percentage suggests. Many plans cover your own occupation for the first two years, then pay only if you cannot work in any occupation you are reasonably suited for. And group coverage usually ends when you leave the job. If the gap is large, a policy of your own can add to the group plan. It costs more, and you have to qualify medically.

Only a small part of it. Medicare covers skilled nursing care for up to 100 days after a qualifying hospital stay, and you pay a daily charge after day 20. It does not pay for custodial care, which means help with bathing, dressing, eating, and other daily activities, and that is what most long-term care consists of. Medicaid does pay for long-term care, but only after income and assets fall below strict limits. Everything in between comes from savings, family, or insurance.

In CareScout's 2025 Cost of Care Survey, the median cost of a private room in a Maryland nursing home was $475 a day, or about $173,000 a year. Assisted living ran about $86,000 a year. A non-medical caregiver at home cost $35 an hour, which comes to about $80,000 a year at 44 hours a week. The federal Administration for Community Living estimates that someone turning 65 has almost a 70% chance of needing some type of long-term care in their remaining years. That figure counts unpaid help from family as well as paid care. By the same estimate, about a third may never need care, and about one in five will need it for more than five years. We use local figures like these to test whether your savings could cover the cost, and for how long.

For most people, in their fifties or early sixties. Insurers price and approve long-term care coverage based on your age and health. Apply later and the premium is usually higher, and some people no longer qualify. Insurance is only one way to pay. Some households can cover care from savings. Some buy a stand-alone long-term care policy. Others choose life insurance with a long-term care rider. If the care is never needed, that policy pays a death benefit. The rider adds to the cost, and any care benefits it pays reduce the death benefit.

Two programs are worth knowing about. The first is a state income tax credit of up to $500 for long-term care premiums, which can be claimed once for each person insured. The second is the state's Long-Term Care Partnership program. If you own a policy that qualifies and later apply for Medicaid, you can keep one dollar of assets above the usual limit for every dollar the policy paid in benefits. Both have conditions. Confirm the details with your tax professional and, for Medicaid questions, an elder law attorney.

You usually have more choices than paying the increase or canceling the policy. Insurers can raise premiums on existing long-term care policies when state regulators approve, and in Maryland those requests are reviewed by the Maryland Insurance Administration. An increase notice typically comes with alternatives, such as a lower daily benefit, a shorter benefit period, a smaller inflation adjustment, or in some cases a smaller policy that is paid up, with no further premiums. Which one costs you least depends on your age, your health, and what the policy would pay today. Bring the letter as soon as it arrives, so there is time to go through the choices before the deadline on the notice.

Sometimes, and only after a careful comparison. A new policy means qualifying again at your current age and health. It often comes with new surrender charges, which are fees for cashing out in the early years. It also restarts the contestability period, usually two years, when the insurer can challenge a claim over errors on the application. An older policy may also include guarantees or loan terms that are no longer sold. On the other hand, some older policies are short of money or cost more than what is available now. We compare your current policy's in-force illustration with what a new policy would offer. If a change does make sense, a 1035 exchange, named for a section of the tax code, generally lets you move the cash value into a new policy without federal income tax. The exchange has to follow IRS rules, and an outstanding policy loan can make part of it taxable, so have your tax professional review it first.

A life insurance death benefit is generally free of federal income tax to the person who receives it. If the person who died owned the policy, the benefit generally counts toward their taxable estate. That matters in Maryland, which taxes estates above $5 million, because a large policy can be what puts an estate over that line. Disability benefits are generally taxable when your employer paid the premiums and free of federal income tax when you paid them with after-tax dollars. Benefits from most long-term care policies sold today are generally free of federal income tax, within federal limits. Each of these rules has exceptions, so we look at them alongside our tax planning work and confirm the details with your CPA.

No. A review looks at the coverage you have. You can start with a single question, such as an old policy, a premium increase, or what happens to your coverage at retirement. If it turns into a longer relationship, that is a decision for later. The first conversation commits you to nothing.

We start with a conversation. The introductory call is where we learn what you are trying to solve and tell you plainly whether we are a good fit. If we are not, we will say so.