As we get older, we need to think of issues that seemed unimportant or even unrealistic when we were young. When we start awakening to the natural course of life, we also realize that we have to prepare for possible hardships the old age may bring. The good news is that the life span of our citizens increases, but as the time machine has not been created yet; the expended life-time might mean the extension of the years of illness and disability rather than of the years of youth and vitality. According to statistics, one out of every two people will need long-term care at some point of their life, and about 60% of individuals over age 65 will require some kind of special care services.
Long-term ?are Insurance (LTC or LTCI) is an insurance product which helps to pay for the cost of long-term care when you cannot care for yourself. Long-term care provides the assistance an individual may need if he/she has some disability or a chronic illness which makes it impossible to care for oneself. Inability to care for oneself means inability to perform the activities of daily living (ADLs), which are eating, toileting, continence, transferring, dressing, bathing, and walking. It can be the result not only of old age, but also of mental or physical illness, or injury. The most common cases associated with long-term care include cancer, a stroke, Parkinson's, Alzheimer's disease and disability. A person is said to need "long-term care" in case he/she is unable to do two or more of these basic activities, or in case he/she suffers a cognitive impairment.
Long-term Care Insurance covers the costs of help in your home with daily activities like bathing, dressing, eating and cleaning, visiting nurses, or care in a nursing home; assisted living services, such as meals, help with daily activities, health monitoring etc, that are provided in a special residential setting; services in an adult daycare center etc. A long-term insurance policy also provides for an opportunity to make your own choices about what long-term care services you will receive and about the place where you will receive them.
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Supriya
05/05/2010 10:55pm
Age, however, is not the crucial factor when it comes to long-term care. About 40% of people who receive long-term care services are between 18 and 64. Of course, older people tend to use the most long-term care, but a young or middle-aged person might also need such services due to an accident or a serious illness.
There are two categories of long-term help people may need: custodial or personal care and skilled nursing care or rehabilitation. Custodial care is a help with the activities of daily living for disabled people, and supervision, protection and help with everyday tasks for people with cognitive impairments. Skilled nursing care can be provided either in the home or in a nursing facility and refers to medical, nursing, or rehabilitative services.
LTCI covers care expenses which are usually not covered by your ordinary health insurance, Medicare, or Medicaid. Health insurance does not cover nursing home care. Medicare won't pay for custodial care and has certain eligibility requirements for skilled nursing care. Individuals, who are over 65, should not rely on Medicare or private health insurance for long-term care. As for Medicaid, it is a welfare government program for very poor people, which is not meant to cover long-term care costs for those who don't qualify.
Most people rely on their family members for support and care, however, Long-term Care Insurance may be a much better option in terms of compensating your expenses. The cost of providing long-term care services may be enormous, and having insurance to help pay for it is very valuable. Long-term Care Insurance is designed to protect your family's finances and your own assets and savings, since long-term care services go beyond medical and nursing care and can be very expensive. Besides protecting your assets, it also helps minimize your dependence on family members, as well as control the place and process of receiving long-term care services.
Long-term Care Insurance is not beneficial for everyone. First off, it is rather expensive. You need to make sure you can afford paying the premiums in case your income lowers. Long-term Care Insurance, just like all other insurance products, requires you to pay regular premiums. This, in its turn, ensures that you won't pay a huge amount out of your own pocket in the event of a serious condition. Purchasing a policy with high premiums cost that are likely to lower your standard of living and cause some financial hardship can hardly be called beneficial. It takes a thorough financial analysis to determine whether Long-term Care Insurance is appropriate in a particular situation. Besides making a financial analysis, consumers need to analyze the reasons for buying a policy, as well as their ability to pay for it every year for the rest of their life. Thus, Long-term Care Insurance is recommended for people with significant assets who wouldn't like to burden their family with nursing home bills.
The risk that a person will need a nursing home care increases with age. A lot of people don't think about it until they get into their 70s and start experiencing health problems. However, in case you have current health problems that are likely to result in the need for long-term care, insurance companies won't offer you a policy, as in this case there is a high risk of losses for the insurance company. In case they still decide to sell you the policy, the premiums are most likely to be extremely high.
Probably the best time when you are most likely to be eligible to purchase Long-term Care Insurance is your middle-age. At this stage, the premium costs will be lower. In case you buy a policy after 65, you may not pass the medical tests and the premiums will be higher.
You cannot buy Long-term Care Insurance when you need to use it, i.e. it is too late to purchase it when you are unhealthy. Therefore, it is important to consider the necessity of this insurance beforehand. Take into consideration your health condition, your age, income and overall financial situation and perspective, and discuss it with your family members. If it happens so that you may need the extended health care, Long-term Care Insurance will protect you, as well as your loved ones.
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Anthony
05/05/2010 10:59pm
Long-term Care Insurance Policies
Long-term care is something we hope neither we nor our loved ones would ever need. Still, the truth is that extended care can be required by any person at any age. No one is impervious to illness or injury. And as we grow older, we are also prone to health issues and frailty of old age.
Though it may be difficult to predict who will need long-term care, i.e. assistance to perform everyday functions, the studies and statistics show that the likelihood of needing such extended care is quite high. More than half of all women and a third of all men are likely to need long-term care.
There are a number of options you can use to be able to fund long-term care costs: your savings and investments, your Life Insurance policy, a "reverse mortgage" or equity in your home. They all have their advantages and drawbacks, and it depends upon your particular situation whether this or that option will work for you. Long-term Care Insurance is the option which should be seriously considered if you know that the above-mentioned alternatives are not for you, or you need to compare all the options.
Like with any insurance product, Long-term Care Insurance should be purchased before the insured actually requires the medical and nursing services covered under the policy. Therefore, experts recommend that individuals who are edging 50-65, should consider purchasing Long-term Care Insurance, as they are still healthy enough to qualify and are more likely to benefit from the purchase of a policy.
Long-term Care Insurance coverage is not only necessary if you want to make sure that you will receive the care services that you want. It also helps gain control over your income and assets, as well as gives a sense of security. This is the right insurance product for anyone who needs to protect their assets and is not wealthy enough to pay long-term care expenses using their own savings.
Some employers provide Long-term Care Insurance for their employees, and you may already be covered under an employer-sponsored policy. If it is not the case, you may need to purchase a separate long-term care policy.
Before you purchase Long-term Care Insurance, thoroughly study what the policy covers. Consider the following features of the policy before you make your final decision:
— Coverage, i.e. the amount of expenses the policy benefits provide. As many policies pay up to a certain amount per day, it may affect your choices, for example, as to whether you will give preference to a long-term care policy that pays for in-home care only or for a care in a professionally-run facility. Mind that higher coverage typically means that you will have to pay a higher premium, and additional coverage involves additional premiums too. There is also an option to buy coverage for a mixture of long-term care types, for instance, a nursing home, assisted living, and adult day care. In case the cost of care turns out to be more than the daily or monthly benefit your policy provides, the balance will have to be paid out of your own pocket.
— Period of Coverage. Make sure your coverage extends to a period of years during which you want to receive benefits from your policy. The average nursing home stay is 2 and a half years, however you can insure for a longer stay, taking the longest benefit you can afford. Basically, you have options spanning from two to six years, or you may want to be covered for the rest of your life.
— Elimination Period. The waiting period is closely connected with your premiums: the longer it is the lower insurance premiums are. During the elimination period, which could last up to 100 days, you have to pay all of your long-term care expenses yourself. You are recommended to choose a 30-day elimination period, since longer waiting periods might cost you less in premiums, but with inflation, will add up the costs to quite a sizeable sum.
— Inflation Protection. With the health care costs rising every year considerably, it is important to make sure your policy includes an inflation protection feature. Though this option will make you pay more in premiums, purchasing a policy without inflation protection will probably mean insufficient coverage. The inflation protection ensures that premiums do not increase, or, in case the cost of long-term care increases, it limits the rate at which the premiums may increase. The basic options of inflation protection are the right to add coverage at a later date and automatic coverage increases. In order to catch up with estimated inflation in the long-term care costs, an inflation adjustment option increases the dollar value of your benefit by 5% each policy year. Consult with your insurer about the kinds of inflation adjustment available and choose the option which better suits you.
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Anthony
05/05/2010 11:00pm
Choosing the right Long-term Care Insurance policy may be quite a difficult task. Different policies may offer different benefits, terms, and features. Even the definition of disability may vary among plans. Therefore, it is very important to carefully consider all crucial factors and details prior to purchasing the policy.
It is vitally important to choose the right insurance company. When we are speaking of the right insurer, we mean the financial strength of the company above all other aspects. A solid "A" rated company which has been in this market for many years already and that will continue to be in business for many years to come is more likely to keep your premiums stable and provide you with good service when necessary.
Make sure that your long-term care policy states when you will be eligible for coverage, and how exactly your eligibility will be determined. Who determines eligibility: your own doctor, or the insurance company's representative? In most cases, an insured individual becomes eligible for benefits of the long-term care policy when he/she needs help with two or more activities of daily living, i.e. eating, dressing, bathing, using the toilet, continence, and walking.
Make sure that an insurance company cannot cancel your policy due to bad health. Make certain that the policy does not require that an insured individual spends time in a hospital before receiving benefit; that your policy will be renewed as long as you pay the premiums; that there is one deductible for the life of the policy; that the policy allows you to stop paying premiums as soon as you start receiving benefits; and you will be able to downgrade your coverage in case you cannot afford the premiums. Also your long-term care policy should automatically cover pre-existing conditions if you disclosed them at the time of your application, provide at least one year of nursing care and home health care coverage and include coverage for dementia.
Your policy should also have a "free look" clause, which means that it allows you to cancel a policy for any reason within a certain number of days after the purchase and get a refund. Find out how many days you would have to change your mind.
You are advised to call nursing homes in the area where you are likely to be living to check if the benefit amount you can receive if you buy the policy will cover the charges of the nursing homes.
Consider some additional options your policy may have, such as a non-forfeiture benefit. This benefit implies that a policy will keep on paying for your care even in case you stop paying premiums. Mind that a non-forfeiture benefit can considerably add up to the total price of your premium.
As for the total price of the Long-term Care Insurance, it largely depends on the individual's current age, the amount of coverage he/she wants, the range of options he/she selects, and the carrier.
There are long-term care policies which are qualified for tax purposes. In case the policy is tax-qualified, the covered person can deduct his/her premiums up to a maximum limit. The amount of the deduction depends on the age of the person, and you may be able to deduct only a small portion since the amount is deductible only to the extent that it exceeds the federal government's 7.5 % threshold of adjusted gross income. A tax-qualified policy implies that a person needs care for at least 90 days, and is unable to perform 2 or more activities of daily living without assistance; or needs assistance due to a severe cognitive impairment. Benefits from a tax-qualified policy are non-taxable.
Non-tax qualified policies often include a "medical necessity trigger," which means that the patient's doctor, or the doctor in association with the insurance company's representative can state whether the patient requires long-term care for any medical reason. Those who receive benefits under a non-qualified long-term care insurance policy may have to pay quite a large tax bill for these benefits.
At some point of our life, we all tend to think about the old age and start planning for the expenses of our final years. It is very difficult to predict anything in life, though we all strive for stability and anticipate things to fit into our plans. Long-term Care Insurance is one of the important options worth considering, as it brings the needed stability and peace of mind.
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Monty
05/05/2010 11:01pm
Pitfalls of Long-term Care Insurance
Due to the benefits of modern medicine and health advances, Americans tend to live longer nowadays, which adds years to their retirement. As life expectancies rise, so does the likelihood that more and more people will require long-term care.
The cost of long-term care is notoriously high and may put a family's assets at threat. Private insurance and Medicare cover no or little of the necessary costs and Medicaid will provide coverage only after you have spent down your assets.
The need to consider financial planning for long-term care is now more obvious than ever. However, it is important to take a reasonable approach to obtaining Long-term Care Insurance, because this insurance product is not the panacea. It may be too risky and too expensive for many consumers. While there are certainly a number of advantages to buying this type of insurance, there are also some common pitfalls you may encounter and should seriously consider beforehand.
Long-term Care Insurance policyholders are free to design their own coverage according to their needs. By choosing the daily benefit amount, waiting period, benefit payment period, inflation protection and other coverage options a policyholder determines the premium cost and the level of coverage.
It is advisable to contact your insurance agent and request a document called Long-term Care Insurance Outline of Coverage. It contains information on terms, conditions and limitations of your insurance policy. Be very attentive to such details as health criteria, pre-existing condition waiting period, renewal, the length of the benefit period, rate increases etc.
Knowing the specific coverage details of the policy is a must if you don't want to be left uncovered. Note that most insurers providing Long-term Care Insurance will only pay for certain types of conditions, and will exclude others. Therefore it is crucial to learn whether the prospective insurer will pay for mental conditions or nervous breakdowns, or conditions related to alcoholism, for instance.
The waiting period, i.e. a period of time during which you have to rely on your own funds for long-term care before the insurance company starts to pay, could be extended to over six months. Make sure you know exactly how long it will take you to pay out of pocket. You can choose a longer waiting period and cut your premium, paying more out of pocket.
The cost of nursing home care keeps increasing by at least 5% a year. Without inflation protection, value of your daily benefit can become insignificant within a decade.
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Monty
05/05/2010 11:01pm
Be aware of the cancellation conditions of your insurance policy. Mind that in case it is not guaranteed renewable, your insurer may refuse a renewal of the policy. In other words, don't sign a policy unless it has a guaranteed renewable provision.
You may choose to reduce your Long-term Insurance premium by shortening the benefit period. According to statistics, a four- or five-year period may be sufficient to cover your needs or give you time to plan for a greater financial demand. In case you have a chronic disease, a lifetime benefit period may be the right choice.
There are no universal standards of a long-term care facility, and this may be another pitfall. The definition of an "assisted-living facility" or "adult day-care center" varies from state to state and from policy to policy. For example, in case you purchase a policy in one state and retire to another state, you may fail to find the facilities in a new state which match the definition in your Long-term Care Insurance policy. Therefore, it is vitally important to understand what kind of facilities the policy will cover. You are also recommended to check whether the facilities fit the criteria stated in your insurance policy.
Long-term Care Insurance normally pays part of the daily cost of long-term nursing home or home health care. LTC policies cover facility charges for inpatient nursing home and skilled nursing care, and some may cover home health care and assisted living facilities. However, they do not cover prescription drugs and medical care and supplies. Beware of the policies which pay home care or custodial benefits only after skilled care has been given, policies which only cover skilled nursing care or only care from Medicare-certified nursing homes.
Another pitfall may be connected with the time of purchasing LTC insurance type. On the one hand, consumers may be willing to obtain a policy early in order to be able to lock in lower premiums. The younger a consumer is when he/she buys a policy, the lower his/her premium will be. On the other hand, experts claim that it is smarter to purchase a policy no earlier than within 10 years of expected use. Buying a Long-term Care Insurance policy before the age of 60 is reasonable only in case you have a chronic condition that is likely to disable you in time. If it is not the case, you may wait until you reach 60 in order to assess whether you need this coverage. The industry is rapidly changing, and the types of long-term care facilities defined in your insurance policy today might turn out outdated when time comes, and not match the types of facilities available for you to move into. In addition, you may never need to use the coverage, which means that you have paid a lot of money in vain.
Prices depend on a number of factors, and typically go up if more features and benefits are included. Make sure you are aware of all the features your policy offers. Many consumers may be prone to buying benefits they don't actually need. However, excessively low-priced policies are as undesirable as over-priced. Low-balled premiums often mean that your rates will increase later considerably.
The language and wordings of your policy may be very tricky and many important definitions may seem rather vague and open to misunderstanding. Never sign a policy if you don't understand something, even if this is just one section. Make sure that the language of your insurance policy states that your rates won't be raised unless the premiums for all policyholders in your state are raised. Premiums are likely to go up in future and when considering a policy purchase, think whether you will be able to afford it. Unless an insurance policy has language that specifically defines what it will offer, don't base your purchasing decision on the benefit which can be misinterpreted.
Choose an insurance company with high ratings. Remember that you need not only a financially stable company, but a company that is most likely to be in the market 25 years from now, i.e. at the time when you need to receive the benefits.
Individuals qualify for Long-term Care Insurance benefits if they are unable to perform certain activities of daily living (bathing, eating, dressing, using a toilet, and walking). However, some policies make it difficult to qualify for benefits. Choose a policy that increases your chances to qualify, for example, the policy which requires inability to perform no more than two activities of daily living before paying benefits. Covering cognitive impairment and medical necessity may also be advisable.
Many companies offer spousal discounts if you and your spouse buy identical policies. This may sound good, but it is important to understand that this option also has its advantages and disadvantages. Discounts may not be valid if you get different policies. Moreover, buying identical policies is far from being a smart decision, as the spouses' state of health may be different. Th
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William
05/05/2010 11:02pm
Tips on Long-term Care Insurance
When it comes to Long-Term Care Insurance, many people are still very much confused and uninformed, and not only because this type of insurance is relatively new on the insurance market. They do not understand the probability of requiring such service, the perspectives of such insurance, and underestimate the cost of long-term care. They are not aware of what Long-term Care Insurance policies cover, and do not understand how and when they pay benefits.
In this respect, Long-term Care Insurance is similar to Homeowner's or Car Insurance coverage: you purchase it in hope you will never really need it, but your home and your car are rather valuable assets not to be protected. The same is with long-term care: people prefer not to think about the diseases, death and frailties of old age. But there are a number of aspects we still definitely need to consider as we age.
Long-term care situations include people living with stroke, Alzheimer's, Multiple Sclerosis, Parkinson's, Spinal Cord Injury, Cerebral Palsy, accidents and other conditions.
Care-giving may have not only physical and emotional impact on the family of a person who needs long-term care, but it is most likely to have a financial impact on them too and change their lifestyle altogether. Taking care of a person who needs help in basic everyday living activities may mean missing time from work, changing from full-time to part-time employment, or even leaving the job to be able to provide sufficient care.
Obtaining Long-Term Care Insurance coverage protects and controls your assets, gives you an opportunity to choose the type of care you want to receive if needed, and makes your family a little less stressed at this point etc. Your financial resources at the time of need will determine your options of the place where you will receive care: in your home, in an assisted care living facility, adult day care, or nursing facility. Being insured provides for an opportunity to pay more attention to the quality of care rather than to trying to find resources to pay for it.
It may turn out that you have to pay for long-term care expenses out of pocket, which may involve borrowing from an investment or retirement account, selling off assets, or taking out a loan against your Life Insurance. Long-term Care Insurance will protect a much larger portion of your financial or retirement plan and won't deprive you of your valuable assets.
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William
05/05/2010 11:02pm
Purchasing this type of insurance involves considerable preparation and knowledge. Before buying Long-term Care Insurance, consider the following tips:
— Carefully consider your needs and situation. Calculate your income, your assets and your budget. It is important to purchase a long-term care policy long before you expect to need the benefits it pays. The older a person is at the moment of obtaining a long-term care policy, the higher premium he/she will have to pay. In addition, the chance of not meeting the medical underwriting standard rises. Medical conditions are likely to increase the premiums.
— Make sure you can afford paying premiums both now and over the time. If you buy LTC insurance when you are in your 60s you may not need it until you are in your 80s. Also, it is necessary to determine whether you can afford to supplement your policy either out of income or assets. Whatever your situation is, you should never feel pressured or urged to purchase a policy.
— Take your time to thoroughly research long-term care costs in your area. Mind that costs and coverages can vary widely. You will find that policies and services offered may differ between insurance companies. Contact several companies prior to the purchase. It is necessary to check and compare the Long-term Care Insurance benefits and exclusions beforehand. Most policies will give options of benefit amounts, duration of benefits, inflation protection, non-forfeiture benefits and elimination period.
— Find out everything about the facilities you have to be in to receive coverage, and the limitations of coverage. You are advised to consider policies that will pay for care in a nursing home, an assisted living facility, and home. "Home care only" policies won't provide the necessary level of care in cases such as a massive stroke or when it comes to the necessity of professional medical care. The services for assisted living facilities may involve additional charges, for more intensive care, for example.
— Purchase a policy only from a financially stable company with a high rating and years of experience in selling this type of insurance. Confirm with your state insurance department that the insurer of your choice is licensed and works in your state legally. Find information on compliant ratios, the history of the LTC insurance company's rate increases as well as on how fast they pay claims. Find out if your state protects LTC insurance buyers from unreasonable rate increases. In other words, take a buyer-beware approach to Long-term Care Insurance policies.
— Buy a policy which will provide not less than 5 percent compound inflation protection at a realistic percentage. Remember that nursing home costs are constantly growing. A policy without inflation protection is practically useless and tends to cover only half the dollar value of the daily benefit after inflation. Experts advice to consider a policy that provides four years of coverage, has a 90-day wait period and five-year compound and automatic inflation protection.
— It's good if you can afford to cover part of the elimination period. This way you may be able to reduce your premium significantly. Besides elimination periods, there are a number of other factors which affect the policy price: waiver-of-premium clauses, benefit amounts, and inflation.
Other tips concerning Long-term Care Insurance are referred to avoiding insurance fraud and common mistakes consumers make:
— Pay by check or money order rather than in cash. You are advised to write a check and make it payable to the insurance company, not the agent.
— Compare outlines of coverage for several policies and don't purchase the first policy feeling hurried to make a decision. Carefully read and understand a policy's fine print prior to making a final decision. Make it a point to understand all the terms and definitions used in a policy. Never sign a contract the terms of which seem somewhat confusing to you.
— Don't trust advertising more than your common sense and knowledge. Be skeptical. Don't give away information about Medicare or your insurance over the phone.
— Explain the full extent of your medical condition. Make sure you fill out the application accurately. In case information about the state of your health is incorrect or incomplete, the insurance company won't pay your claims. Refer the carrier to your doctors' records of the care provided to you.
— Arrange an automatic premium payment. In case you have your premiums automatically deducted from your bank account and paid electronically by your bank, paying your statements won't be delayed due to your illness, for example, and your coverage won't lapse.
— Make sure your policy clearly defines all criteria for qualifying for benefits, explains in detail the claim-filing process, as well as your rights to appeal the company's adverse d
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Kim
05/05/2010 11:03pm
Long-term Care Insurance for Women
Long-term care is known as the assistance-provided when an individual cannot perform activities of daily living (like eating, bathing, dressing and walking) due to old age, illness, injury or a cognitive impairment like Alzheimer's. Long-term care ranges from a provider coming into your home to skilled care in a nursing home.
The thing is that long-term care is an issue especially important for women. Namely women should plan for long-term care and there are a number of serious reasons for that.
Women live longer than men and are 10 times more likely to reach age of 85, the age when they are expected to become the recipients of long-term care. Women over 65 are twice as likely to be living alone, which means they have no one to take necessary care of them. It's women who constitute the majority of nursing home residents. At present, three out of four nursing home residents are women. Women more often suffer from Alzheimer's disease than men.
Women who have reached the age of 75 are more likely than men to need assistance with one or more activities of daily living. Many older women are widowed and are more likely than older men to live alone, which means that they have no one to help them with daily activities. Divorced or separated elderly women are more vulnerable because they have lower incomes and are more likely than men to run out of resources in their later life. In the United States, many families are spread out geographically. It adds to the problem of care for aging parents.
Women are not only most likely to require long-term care, but they are also principal providers of care too. They often become caregivers for their ill spouses or parents. According to statistics, women constitute the majority (about 75 %) of both paid formal long-term care workers and unpaid informal caregivers. Seven in ten unpaid caregivers are wives and adult daughters. Women tend to devote over 30 hours a week providing care to a loved one.
There is even a special term which applies to more and more women nowadays. If you are in a dual situation when you have to care for children under 18 and for aging family members at the same time, you belong to the "sandwich generation" of caregivers.
Providing long-term care has a huge impact on one's finances. Quite often, there can be additional costs involved: for example, you will need money for special medical equipment or for home modifications. Long-term medical care can deplete family assets very quickly, which, among other things, leaves women who were providers of care with no money to afford care for themselves.
Besides longer lives and higher rates of chronic health problems, women tend to have lower incomes than men on average. This may lead to having no resources to pay for expensive long-term care services. More than that, women who have care-giving responsibilities, tend to lose considerable sums in earnings, Social Security benefits, and pension benefits. Many women may be forced to reduce working hours or withdraw from the workforce to be able to provide long-term care to their disabled or aging family members. Most women balance care-giving with jobs and families, which takes its toll not only on their financial state, but also on their health and emotional well-being. Care-giving is likely to affect not only earnings and productivity, but also the quality of life on the whole.
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Kim
05/05/2010 11:04pm
As we see, there is much evidence based on statistical facts proving that Long-term Care Insurance is basically a women's issue and elderly women living with their families or alone should seriously consider planning for it. Taking into consideration all the above-mentioned reasons, women are likely to have a greater need for additional financial resources that are required to cover the costs of long-term care services, either in nursing homes or assisted living facilities.
Your children, your saving and assets, Private Health Insurance, Medicare, Medicaid, - these are some of the common options women may use to fund their long-term care when the necessity occurs. All of them have their advantages and disadvantages, their major disadvantage being that neither of them is equally available for all women. These options are quite often unsatisfactory and require looking for other solutions for the high long-term care costs and care choices.
Long-term care services are costly. It will suffice to look at the average annual cost of a private room in a nursing home to realize that many older women simply cannot afford to pay for long-term care services. Standard Health Insurance won't cover those costs. Government programs will provide coverage only in restricted circumstances. Medicare can provide skilled care only for a short time following hospitalization. Medicaid will be useful only for individuals who can qualify due to their poverty. Middle-income individuals may be able to qualify for long-term care benefits under Medicaid only after they have already used up practically all their savings.
When it comes to long-term care, the quality of it should come in the major focus of attention. It is important to decide whether you want to receive care in your own home or in a nursing facility, what sort of care it should be and how long it should last. The next step is to determine your ability to finance the chosen type of care.
For many reasons, Long-term Care Insurance protection turns out to be one of the best options for women. It protects the savings and assets of the family, allows for lightening a burden on your adult children, and provides for a wider range of care options. The opportunity to customize an individual policy and purchase benefits which will meet your specific needs make Long-term Care Insurance more attractive when you make your decision about care options. In other words, Long-term Care Insurance offers more than just financial protection. It also offers flexibility and independence.
Though women are much more likely to need care and eventually use their Long-term Care Insurance benefits, they pay the same amount for coverage as men. Rates are unisex. The age when you decide to buy a Long-term Care Insurance policy affects its cost: the premiums are at their lowest when you are younger and are higher for people who purchase insurance at older age. However, no matter when you buy your policy, it will still cost you less than the overall cost of care.
Many experts advice single women to look into Long-term Care Insurance options when they are still in their forties. For women in their 50s and 60s it is not too late to purchase this protection either, though the premiums will be higher. As a general rule, it is better to search Long-term Care protection while you still have no problems in health qualifying.
Rates may differ from company to company quite significantly. It is highly recommended to work with an insurance or financial professional who has access to policies from multiple companies in order to be able to compare and choose the most favorable offer.
Long-term Care Insurance can be purchased either through a group plan offered by an employer or on an individual basis. At present, the number of employers offering Long-term Care Insurance to employees is increasing.
Make your own research into long-term care protection types, and be very attentive to details. Verify the monthly plan benefit to be paid, figure out everything about your policy keeping up with the inflation rate etc. Make sure you can re-verify the plans benefits each year.
Consult with your Life Insurance agent or financial advisor to choose the type of insurance most suitable for your situation. In certain cases, alternatives of Long-term Care Insurance might work better: for instance, a reverse mortgage or paying out-of-pocket. It is vitally important to be well informed about the risks and options and make a right choice about long-term care, especially if you are a single woman planning for the years of retirement and issues of your care as you grow older.
There are no universal standards of a long-term care facility, and this may be another pitfall. The definition of an "assisted-living facility" or "adult day-care center" varies from state to state and from policy to policy. For example, in case you purchase a policy in one state and retire to another state, you may fail to find the facilities in a new state which match the definition in your Long-term Care Insurance policy. Therefore, it is vitally important to understand what kind of facilities the policy will cover. You are also recommended to check whether the facilities fit the criteria stated in your insurance policy.
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