Long Term Care insurance

Long-term care insurance typically covers the costs of visiting nurses to help with daily activities of living such as bathing, dressing, eating and cleaning. It also covers community programs, such as adult day care; as well as assisted living services that are provided in a special residential setting other than your own home. These services may include meals, health monitoring, and help with daily activities, and even care in a nursing home.

Many people don't think about long-term care insurance until it is too late. Most seniors don’t think about long term care health insurance until they reach their 70s and 80s when their health begins to fail. However, at these ages, many seniors find that they will be too high a risk for an insurer to cover them; or if they do qualify, the premiums will be astronomical and unaffordable for many. In fact, many long-term care policies have restrictions on age and health status.

Thus, the best time to start learning about long term care insurance may be middle-age. That’s the time when one has the highest likelihood of being eligible for a policy and, just as important, when premiums costs might be lower and affordable.

There are many issues to consider when looking into the right long term care insurance. The type of coverage you many need can help you determine which policy is right for you. You can choose long-term are policies that pay only for nursing home care, or only for home care; or one can opt to purchase coverage for a mixture of care options that include nursing home and assisted living care, as well as adult day care.

Also, be sure to note the daily or monthly benefit of the policy. This is the amount of money the insurance company will pay for each day or month you are covered by a long-term care policy. If the cost of care is more than your daily or monthly benefit, you will be required to pay the balance out of your own pocket. Your benefit period determines the length of time you will receive benefits from your policy. You can choose a benefit period that spans from two to six years, or the rest of your life.

Also be sure to purchase a policy that contains inflation protection. With the rising costs of health care, buying a policy without inflation protection is like buying a policy that won't cover much of anything. There are two main kinds of inflation protection: the right to add coverage at a later date; and automatic coverage that increases.

As always, it is extremely important to discuss your options with a licensed long term care insurance provider.