INSURING THE FUTURE
A Financial Fact Sheet on Special Needs
by Jeffrey H. Minde, BSSW, MSW, JD
There are approximately One Thousand Nine Hundred Insurance Companies throughout the United States today, serving every segment of the population.
The population of families, caregivers and individuals with special needs purchase insurance services and products from any or every of these companies. Like any other minority, the special needs population seeks services from qualified professionals familiar with the issues confronting them in dealing with their respective disabilities or chronic illnesses.
The special needs population, those individuals with mental and/or physical disabilities or chronic illnesses, comprises America's largest minority population, currently numbering 50,000,000 individuals. Special needs individuals compromise a segment of every ethnic, racial, religious, social and economic group in the United States.
The net worth of the special needs population as a whole is estimated at almost Seven Hundred Billion Dollars. Despite the diverse nature of this population, it is a population which suffers pervasive economic neglect at the hands of mainstream society, since there is an erroneous belief among financial professionals that special needs individuals have no net worth, are not insurable, or cannot participate in the economic life of the community. As a result, the special needs population is a virtually untapped market in need of services.
There is a profound national need for the services of financial, insurance, and investment professionals knowledgeable about special needs. There exist specialized Trust vehicles known as Special Needs Trusts and Cooperative Master Trusts which allow disabled individuals a unique degree of economic flexibility even while maintaining their eligibility for crucial governmental benefits. A properly-drafted Special Needs Trust allows assets to be held for a disabled individual without imperiling eligibility for Medicaid and other governmental programs. With proper financial planning the disabled individual will then have income to provide for supplemental and extra care over and above what the government may provide.
A major part of responsible financial and Estate planning for the disabled must involve the creation of a Will, Advance Directives, and a Special Needs Trust, along with provisions for funding of the Special Needs Trust by and through insurance policies and other investment vehicles acquired by parents or other concerned persons naming the Special Needs Trust as beneficiary of the policy.
Unique and unrecognized issues abound in the special needs community:
Elderly parents, concerned for their severely disabled daughter put aside one-half million dollars for her care after their deaths. Concerned that a catastrophic illness might dissipate these funds, they purchased a second-to-die policy with a total of $400,000 in premiums, assuring themselves of a guaranteed reserve of funds for their daughter's care.
A new service provider acquired a Telephonic Device for the Deaf in order to communicate with the large, local, and utterly unserved Deaf community in her locale. Being able to communicate with someone who cared enough to try won the hearts and minds of her hearing-impaired and Deaf neighbors.
Assisted by The National Special Needs Network, these individuals, and others, were able to identify and plan for their needs, insuring the future.
(c)2006-2010 Jeffrey H. Minde and The National Special Needs Network, Inc.