Long Term Care
What is long-term care and what does it cover?
Long-term care is designed to cover long-term services and supports, including personal and custodial care in a variety of settings such as your home, a community organization or an assisted living facility. This policy can reimburse you for help with daily activities like bathing, dressing or eating.
What determines the cost of this coverage?
- Your age at the time you purchase the policy
- The maximum amount per day and the maximum number of days that the policy will pay
- The maximum amount per day times the maximum number of days determines the lifetime maximum
- Optional benefits you choose to add to the policy
How does long-term coverage pay?
Most long-term care policies are reimbursement based towards a licensed health care provider. There are also more recent Indemnity based options, in which the care does not have to come from a licensed professional. With these plans, the policy could pay benefits to a spouse or family member if that’s who is assisting with your needs.
Benefit periods (how long the policy will pay) of long-term care varies by policy and carrier. Some will pay the costs of your long-term care for two to five years, whereas others may pay for as long as you live, no matter what the cost is.
Long-term care coverage can be purchased as a standalone product or in conjunction with life insurance. The benefit to combining the two is that if the coverage is not used for long-term care as it is not needed, it’s still available for the life insurance benefit.
The key to the most beneficial long-term care coverage is to place it with a good carrier and to purchase as early in life as possible, most commonly by age 65.