FAQs About Long-Term Care Insurance
With people living longer than ever before, more and more seniors require long-term healthcare services in nursing homes and assisted living facilities. However, such care is extremely expensive, especially when it’s needed for extended periods of time.
Moreover, traditional health insurance doesn’t cover long-term care. And though Medicare does pay for some long-term care, it’s typically limited to 100 days, difficult to qualify for, and requires you to deplete nearly all of your assets before being eligible (unless you use proactive planning to shield your assets, which we can support you with)
To address this gap in coverage, long-term care insurance was created. Here we’ll answer some of the most frequently asked questions about these policies to help you determine whether you could benefit from investing in such coverage.
Q: What is long-term care?
A: Long-term care is a general term that describes the type of care you need when you are no longer able to handle activities of daily living (ADLs) on your own.
Some common activities of daily living (ADLs) include:
● Ambulating (walking or getting around)
● Feeding
● Bathing
● Dressing and grooming
● Using the restroom
● Continence management
● Getting in and out of bed or a chair
Q: What is long-term care insurance?
A: First introduced as “nursing home insurance” in the 1980s, long-term care insurance is designed to cover the expenses related to your long-term care in the event you are no longer able to handle your own ADLs.
Before your coverage kicks in, most policies require that you demonstrate you have lost the ability to engage in at least two or three ADLs. Most policies also have a deductible, or “elimination period,” which is a set number of days that must elapse between the time you become disabled (eligible for benefits) and the time your coverage kicks in.
Q: When should you purchase long-term care insurance
A: Obviously, the younger and healthier you are when you buy the policy, the cheaper the premiums will be, so the sooner you invest in coverage, the better. Most policies exclude certain pre-existing conditions, so if you wait until you become ill, it can even be impossible to find coverage.
According to the American Association for Long-Term Care Insurance (AALTCI), the best age to apply for coverage is before you reach your mid-50s. Beyond that age, your health is unlikely to improve significantly, so waiting longer will typically increase your premiums, or you may even become ineligible before acquiring a policy.
Q: What are the most important elements in a long-term care policy?
A: When meeting with an insurance provider, you must get answers to the following three questions about your policy:
● How long is the elimination period before the policy begins paying benefits?
● What capacities, or ADLs, must you lose before coverage kicks in?
● How many years of care are covered?
A Key Component In Your Estate Plan
Contact us, your local Personal Family Lawyer® for support in finding the right long-term care policy for your particular situation. Long-term care insurance, along with life insurance, are key components in your estate plan. When combined with the right estate planning vehicles, you can rest assured your family will be protected and provided for no matter what happens to you.
This article is a service of CONNORS LAW, a Personal Family Lawyer® firm. We don’t just draft documents; we ensure you make informed and empowered decisions about life and death, for yourself and the people you love.
That's why we offer a Family Wealth Planning Session,™ during which you will get more financially organized than you’ve ever been before, and make all the best choices for the people you love. You can begin by calling our office today to schedule a Family Wealth Planning Session and mention this article to find out how to get this $750 session at no charge.
