Long Term Care Insurance
L
ong Term Care Insurance is the most cost efficient method of paying for qualified long term care expenses. A quick look at how much nursing home's cost in your State can make anyone become very worried about their future financial security.
All LTC policies qualify you lose the ability to do 2 or the "Activities of Daily Living" or ADL's. These are
Bathing
Toileting
Dressing
Eating
Transferring
Maintaining Bowels and Bladder
The policies also begin paying if you are diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease or severe dementia.
Using an insurance broker means you have have someone representing YOU instead of a particular insurance company. Finding the right plan for you is our job. Helping you understand it and being there for you if the time comes when you need help is part of our service to you.
There are several factors that will affect the plan and it's cost and you need to be aware of them.
(1) The benefit period: The length of time after a claim is filed that the insurer will pay for the care provided (from one year up to lifetime coverage);
(2) A daily benefit: The maximum dollar or percentage amount the insurer will pay for care each day (from about $30 to $300 per day);
(3) The elimination period or deductible: The length of time and the amount of money that must be paid out-of-pocket before the insurer starts to pay (from “first day coverage” to a one-year wait);
(4) The level of inflation protection: The amount your benefits will increase over time to keep up with inflation (for example, $100 per day sounds adequate today, but may be too little in 10 or 15 years).
What an actual policy might cost you depends also on your age and health. The 2007 Long Term Care Insurance Price Index shows real cost averages - costs many Americans can afford.