The amount you can deduct on your taxes as a result of buying long-term care insurance has been increased by the IRS for 2012. If you itemize your deductions, you can generally deduct part of your premiums if the premiums, together with your other unreimbursed medical expenses, amount to more than 7.5 percent of your adjusted gross income. The maximum amount of premiums you can deduct each year depends on your age at the end of

A part of the new federal health care law that would have set up a voluntary, government-run insurance program for long-term care has been scrapped by the Obama Administration. The program, known as the “CLASS Act,” would have allowed people to pay monthly premiums for five years, after which they would be eligible for future benefits to help pay for long-term care services that are not covered by Medicare. But the Administration has concluded that there’s

Many power of attorney and health care proxy documents that were created years ago should be revised now as a result of a federal medical privacy law. The law, known as HIPAA, generally prevents health care providers from disclosing your personal medical information to anyone but you and someone you’ve named as your “personal representative.” Medical privacy is a good thing – but the law can create complications.

Many older people would like to make significant gifts to their grandchildren, in order to help them and in order to reduce the size of their own estate for tax purposes. But they also worry that the grandchildren won’t be able to handle large sums of money. The good news is that you can give each of your grandchildren up to $13,000 a year without incurring any gift tax. If you’re married, your spouse can also