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Long-Term Care Insurance: A Big Dilemma
It is talked about by lots of people but few really understand the uniqueness of long-term care. Long-term care is the basic daily assistance needed if an illness leaves you unable to care for yourself. This care may or may not include a stay in a nursing home, but includes help dressing, getting into and out of bed, or sitting down and getting up from a chair.
Long-term care is not just for the elderly, as 40% of Americans who need long-term care are not yet 65 years old.
There are long-term care policies available to help with certain long-term care expenses, but they can be expensive. These policies are designed to pay some or all of a nursing home stay when you cannot meet the needs of every day living on your own. Some policies may also cover care in adult day care facilities and home health care. Since policies differ in the type of coverage provided it is important to evaluate your possible long-term care needs carefully.
Some questions to ask before buying are:
- What types of care are covered and in what settings? (A policy is not required to cover every kind of long-term care, nor is it required to cover long-term care in every setting.
- How much is the daily benefit, and for how many years will it be paid?
- What are the benefit triggers in the policy?
- Does the policy have maximum benefits for each illness or per person, including maximum periods of confinement?
- Does the policy place a lifetime maximum on your benefits?
- Does collecting benefits for home health care reduce the policy's remaining lifetime benefits amount?
- How long is the elimination period?
- How long is the waiting period before pre-existing conditions are covered?
- What inflation protection is offered?
- How much may the premium increase in the future?
For additional information, request publication FCS-515, or visit the following website resources: Area Agencies on Aging, or the Planning Ahead for Elder Care series. .
