Terms of Use

Effective / last updated: September 22, 2026

Acceptance of these terms

By visiting, reading, searching, downloading from, or submitting information to fundingdependency.com (“this site”), you agree to these Terms of Use and to the Privacy Policy. If you do not agree, please do not use the site. These terms apply to every page, guide, assessment, calculator, chat answer, downloadable file, and email this site produces.

What this site is — and what it is not

FundingDependency.com is an educational project by George A. Mellendorf, founder of Central States Insurance Services, Inc., explaining the ten common ways American families pay for long-term care. It exists so families can understand their options before a crisis forces a decision.

It is not legal, tax, accounting, financial, insurance, or medical advice, and it is not a substitute for advice from a professional licensed in your state. It does not create an attorney-client, advisory, agency, or fiduciary relationship. Nothing here is an offer to sell or a solicitation to buy any insurance or financial product, an application for coverage, a quote, a binder, or a promise that any benefit, tax treatment, or program eligibility will apply to you. Medicaid rules, Veterans benefits, tax law, insurance underwriting, and care costs vary by state and change over time, and they turn on details specific to your household. Before you act, consult a licensed elder-law attorney and appropriately licensed financial, tax, and insurance professionals in your state.

George A. Mellendorf may or may not be compensated for a referral or paid a marketing fee. Where you are directed to another professional or company, treat that as a starting point for your own due diligence, not as a recommendation that it is right for you.

How content is researched and sourced

We build this site from primary and authoritative sources: federal and state agencies such as Medicare, Medicaid/CMS, the Department of Veterans Affairs, the IRS, and HHS; the National Association of Insurance Commissioners and state insurance departments; published cost-of-care surveys; peer-reviewed research; and industry and nonprofit research organizations.

Where a page states a rule, threshold, benefit amount, dollar figure, or statistic drawn from a source, that source is named and hyperlinked so you can open it and verify the figure yourself. Links to other organizations open in a new tab. Figures reflect the most recent data available when the page was published or last reviewed, and source organizations revise their numbers, forms, and limits on their own schedules. Where a source and this site ever disagree, the source governs. If you believe a figure is wrong or out of date, please tell us and we will check it and correct the page.

Artificial intelligence disclosure

We want to be direct about this: much of the content on this site was sourced, researched, drafted, and refined with the assistance of Perplexity AI, an AI research and answer engine, with human editorial review before publication. The same is true of our downloadable guides, assessment explanations, and the answers the site's chat assistant returns.

That means two things for you. First, the underlying facts belong to the organizations we cite, not to the AI, and those organizations are the authority for any number. Second, AI systems can be wrong: they can misread a source, blend two figures, carry forward an outdated limit, or state something with unearned confidence. We review what is published and cite what we rely on, and we still ask you to follow the links and confirm anything you intend to act on with the source and with a licensed professional in your state. Automated content generation does not transfer responsibility for your decisions to us, and it does not make any figure here a guarantee.

No warranty

This site and everything on it are provided “as is” and “as available,” without warranties of any kind, express or implied, including any implied warranties of accuracy, completeness, currency, merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, title, or non-infringement. We do not warrant that the site will be uninterrupted or error-free, that defects will be corrected, or that any calculator, assessment, or chat answer will produce a result that matches your actual eligibility, premium, benefit, or cost.

Limitation of liability

To the fullest extent permitted by law, FundingDependency.com, George A. Mellendorf, Central States Insurance Services, Inc., Adaptive Marketing Group, and their respective owners, officers, employees, contractors, contributors, and content partners will not be liable for any direct, indirect, incidental, special, consequential, exemplary, or punitive damages, or for any lost profits, lost benefits, denied claims, denied eligibility, penalties, taxes, care costs, or other loss, arising out of or related to your use of this site, your reliance on anything published here, any error or omission in it, any third-party site or professional you reach through it, or any interruption or unavailability of the site — whether based in contract, tort, negligence, strict liability, or any other theory, and whether or not we were advised of the possibility of such damages.

Hold harmless acknowledgement

By using this site, requesting a guide, taking the Journey Assessment, using the chat assistant, or submitting a form, you acknowledge and agree that you do so at your own risk and on your own judgment, and you agree to release, indemnify, defend, and hold harmless FundingDependency.com, George A. Mellendorf, Central States Insurance Services, Inc., Adaptive Marketing Group, and their respective owners, officers, employees, contractors, contributors, and content partners from and against any claim, demand, loss, liability, damage, cost, or expense — including reasonable attorney fees — arising from or related to your use of this site or its downloads, your reliance on its content, any decision you make about care, coverage, benefits, legal matters, taxes, or finances, or your breach of these terms. You remain solely responsible for your own planning decisions and for verifying anything material with the cited source and with a licensed professional in your state.

Guides, downloads, and the Journey Assessment

Guides, worksheets, and other files offered on this site are free educational materials, not deliverables under an engagement, and requesting one does not create a professional relationship or obligate you to anything. The Journey Assessment and any calculator here are educational illustrations based only on what you enter; they do not underwrite, price, pre-qualify, or determine eligibility for anything, and an actual insurer, attorney, or government program may reach a different result. Every downloadable file carries the same disclaimers, sourcing statement, AI acknowledgement, opt-out route, and copyright notice as this page.

Intellectual property and permitted use

Except for third-party material we cite and link, the content, structure, design, and compilation of this site are © 2026 FundingDependency.com / George A. Mellendorf. All rights reserved. You are welcome to read, print, and share pages and guides intact — including their sources, disclaimers, and notices — for personal, non-commercial use, and to quote briefly with attribution and a link. Without written permission, you may not sell, license, paywall, rebrand, republish at scale, or strip attribution from this material, use it as a lead-generation or advertising asset, or use automated means to copy the site wholesale or to build a competing or derivative product. Permission requests go through the contact page.

Third-party links and services

We link to government agencies, research organizations, and other publishers so you can verify what we say. We do not control those sites, we are not responsible for their content, accuracy, or privacy practices, and a link is not an endorsement. Some site features rely on third-party services, and those services operate under their own terms and policies.

Acceptable use

Please use this site lawfully. Do not attempt to breach or test its security, interfere with its operation, submit false information or another person's information without permission, harvest personal data, upload malicious code, or use the site to market to us or to our readers.

Email and your right to opt out

We use an email address only for the purpose you gave it — sending the guide or report you asked for, or replying to your question. Requesting a guide does not subscribe you to a marketing program, and we do not sell email addresses.

You can opt out of all email at any time. Email gamellendorf@gmail.com with “opt out” in the subject line, or send the request through the contact page, and we will remove your address and stop all email to it. Use the same route to ask what we hold about you, to correct it, or to have it deleted. Opting out costs you nothing on this site: every page, guide, and tool stays free to read and use.

Changes to these terms

We may update these terms as the site, the law, or our tools change. When we do, we will revise the “last updated” date above. Continued use of the site after a change means you accept the updated terms.

If part of this is unenforceable

If any provision of these terms is found unenforceable, that provision will be limited or removed to the minimum extent necessary and the rest will remain in full effect. Our not enforcing a provision is not a waiver of it.

Questions and corrections

Questions about these terms, a correction to a figure, a permission request, or an opt-out request can be sent through the contact page or to gamellendorf@gmail.com, and George A. Mellendorf will respond directly. Related pages: the Privacy Policy and our companion educational site, The Dependency Series.

Terms of Use Details