What Is Long Term Care Insurance?

Medicare published these long term care statistics.

Insurance; there are so many different types, Disability Insurance, Life Insurance, Car Insurance, Travel Insurance and the much needed; Long-Term Care Insurance.

Long-Term Care Insurance is a form of insurance that offers you a daily payout to help cover expenses during a chronic illnesses or disability. The funds are paid to you over a period as agreed in your insurance contract. Long term disability policies may vary with terms, conditions and payouts.

Unfortunately, a majority of United States citizens wrongly assume that Medicare or their company health insurance will cover their long-term care costs.

Employer health coverage will not pay for extended healthcare services. If you qualify for Medicare, then Medicare will most cover a short term stay in a nursing home. However, extended care in a nursing center will only be covered by Medicare under extremely narrow and strict conditions.

So, when should you begin to think about purchasing Long-Term Care Insurance?

Financial guru Dave Ramsey recommends you add Long- Term Insurance to your financial plan around the time you are sixty.

If you need to include long term insurance to your financial plan, then you should consider the following:

• Options– Long Term Insurance policies vary in payouts and the flexible of options. You should know what you options are available to you.  Some long term insurance plans will pay for assisted living, modification of your home or in home nursing.
• Calculate Your Needs– You need to figure how much money you would need to cover daily health costs if you were to become chronically ill or disabled.
• The Waiting Period– Decide what wait period you can afford before the long term care policy is active. Usually, the longer waiting period will lower your premiums.
• Premium Costs– Does the premium for your long term care healthcare insurance increase each year? Some long term insurance policies may have a step up fee schedule or automatically adjust annually.
• Taxes– Do you plan to purchase your policy with personal funds? If you do purchase long-term insurance with personal after-tax dollar money, then your long-term insurance may be tax-free.

You need to understand the terms of your long term insurance policy. If you do not comprehend the terms of the insurance policy then ask your insurance agent questions. You should also make sure that your insurance agent has extensive long-term care insurance.

Long term insurance is an insurance vehicle that most adults over sixty years old should purchase. Hopefully, long- term insurance is a form of insurance that you will never have to use but Medicare & You, statistics are staggering:

At least 70% of people over 65 will need long-term care services and support at some point in their lives.

Resources:

https://www.medicare.gov/Publications/Search/Results.asp?PubID=10050&Type=PubID
http://www.aarp.org/health/health-insurance/info-06-2012/understanding-long-term-care-insurance.html

http://www.daveramsey.com/blog/long-term-care-why-age-60/

My last HypoGal Blog was https://hypogalblog.com/best-medical-references/federal-medical-state-board/