What is Long Term Care Insurance?

As we age, the likelihood we will need some type of medical or personal care increases.  We may need long term care - a variety of services which help meet the medical and non-medical needs of people with a chronic illness or disability who cannot care for themselves for long periods of time.  Such services typically include assistance with normal daily tasks like dressing, bathing, and using the bathroom. Long-term care can be provided at home, in the community, in assisted living facilities or in nursing homes.

On average, the need for long-term care services lasts 2-3 years — not days or weeks — and can extend much longer for conditions like Alzheimer's or Parkinson's disease. The the national median cost of a semi-private nursing home room now exceeds $100,000 per year (Genworth Cost of Care Survey), and home health aide costs average over $60,000 annually — expenses that Medicare and standard health insurance do not cover. 

Long term care insurance was developed for precisely this reason – to provide the needed financial protection against the cost of long term care that other plans simply don’t cover. If you need long-term care services, what financial resources could you call on? Do you have the necessary savings to pay for home health care for six months, a year or longer without the expense being a burden on your lifestyle?

Today's long-term care planning goes beyond traditional LTC policies. Hybrid plans — which combine life insurance or an annuity with a long-term care benefit rider — have become the most popular choice for new buyers. With a hybrid plan, if you never need long-term care, your beneficiaries receive a death benefit. Your premium is never 'wasted.' I can walk you through both traditional and hybrid options to find the right fit for your situation and budget.

If not, long-term care insurance may be a good option for you to explore.

An insurance policy, based on your need for care, will pay a daily or monthly benefit amount to cover some or all of your long term care costs.  Some policies will pay benefits for up to a stated period of time such as three or four years while others pay until a maximum dollar amount has been paid, such as $150,000.  Most policies have options for your daily or monthly and policy maximum benefits to automatically increase every year so that your coverage keeps pace with rising health care costs.

It’s never too early to consider long-term care insurance because:

• The younger you are when you buy long term care insurance the less it cost.
• Once you have the coverage, it is Guaranteed Renewable for life – it cannot be cancelled. Conversely, once you become too unhealthy to obtain it, you are unlikely to ever be healthy enough to qualify again.

If you are 45 or older and do not have coverage in place, I encourage you to learn more now. If you're 45 or older and don't have long-term care coverage, now is the time to explore your options — before health conditions make you uninsurable. Call me at (603) 494-6535 or request a free quote. I serve clients in New Hampshire, Maine, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Ohio, and Texas.