Long Term Care Insurance: Information and Quotes

Many people have never heard of long term care insurance, and even if they have, they may not realize how it differs from other types of health insurance. Basically, long term care insurance is a supplement to standard health insurance, which often does not cover long term care costs.

When it comes to long term care insurance, you want to purchase it before you need it. Age is the main factor in determining what your insurance premium will be, and the younger you are, the lower the price. Of course, the earlier you purchase the insurance, the longer you'll pay premiums before you use the benefits. Many people wait until they are in their early 50s to buy long term care insurance, and that’s not a horrible time. At 55, long term care insurance will cost around $800. At 65, that price will have almost doubled. Many insurance companies will refuse to cover anyone over 85 or those who have pre-existing conditions. Generally, insurance companies are going to want to cover young people who are at low risk of ever needing their benefits.

What kind of benefits do you want when looking at a long term care insurance package? Well, you want to look at what activities they consider "Activities of Daily Living" or ADLs. When you can no longer perform a number of ADLs on your own, the insurance package should step in and start paying you benefits. ADLs include things like bathing, getting dressed, getting in and out of bed, and preparing meals. Some long term care insurance will also cover things like nursing care services and even help pay for the cost of moving to and living in an assisted living facility. You need to know exactly which services are covered and what terms the policy has for each-some have very strict assisted living facility guidelines, for example, and if you go to a facility that doesn’t meet these guidelines, the insurance will not pay for it.

You also want to see if your policy features a nonforfeiture benefit. This benefit includes some extra coverage in case you drop your insurance or let it lapse. Note, however, that this benefit will most likely raise your premium. You also want to know about a waiver of premium. This means you may be able to stop paying premiums while you’re receiving benefits. This waiver most likely will have a number of stipulations on it, so be sure you read it carefully.

Who Needs Long-Term Care Insurance?

Long term care insurance is usually needed by those that are elderly. Thus, most people do not think about buying this until they are older and start to develop problems. However, those that have health problems that require constant attention and are not considered a part of the elderly population will find that long term care insurance can help them as well. This insurance is meant for anyone that has health problems that has them in and out of the hospital, or needing to have constant care that family members cannot provide. For example, putting a grandparent into a nursing home or hiring a home health nurse to attend to someone else that may be confined to the bed or the like.

Other people that benefit from long term care insurance are those that have mental or physical handicaps that are needing to have some sort of care that is going to be needed at all times. For example, when the person goes to a daycare for those that have these problems when the parents work. Long term care is also a good idea for anyone that has been seriously injured on the job or in an accident, since they never know if they will get back to normal. Long term care is not meant for those that are healthy and need no help, since it does not really cover medical expenses that are for the average doctor visit that the person may have. Usual ailments that are covered under long term care are stroke patients, cancer patients, disabled patients and the like.

Who Should Buy Long-Term Care Health Insurance?

Long term care insurance is meant to provide financial relief for those times in which a person is considered to be a long term patient. For example, when a person suffers a stroke and can no longer take care of themselves, they rely on someone else, usually a nursing home or home health nurse to take care of them. In these types of situation, the long term care insurance is what pays for the person to have this type of care. Other times, a young person that has a mental disability which affects the way that they interact with the world is someone that would greatly benefit from long term care. With this all being said there are certain groups of people that are going to find it beneficial to buy this type of insurance and have it available should they need it.

Those that are past the retirement age are going to find that investing into one of these policies is a great way to make sure that they are protected. They may not have any problems related to their healthy yet. However, statistically these are the people that utilize this insurance more than other people. Those that have children that are born with disabilities, will find that purchasing one of these policies can help the child after they have died in getting the care that is needed for them to stay alive and healthy. Therefore, parents should consider this coverage as an investment into the future of their child.