Long Term Care Insurance

Many people have never heard of long term care insurance, and even if they have, they may not realize how it differs from other types of health insurance. Basically, long term care insurance is a supplement to standard health insurance, which often does not cover long term care costs.

When it comes to long term care insurance, you want to purchase it before you need it. Age is the main factor in determining what your insurance premium will be, and the younger you are, the lower the price. Of course, the earlier you purchase the insurance, the longer you'll pay premiums before you use the benefits. Many people wait until they are in their early 50s to buy long term care insurance, and that’s not a horrible time. At 55, long term care insurance will cost around $800. At 65, that price will have almost doubled. Many insurance companies will refuse to cover anyone over 85 or those who have pre-existing conditions. Generally, insurance companies are going to want to cover young people who are at low risk of ever needing their benefits.

What kind of benefits do you want when looking at a long term care insurance package? Well, you want to look at what activities they consider "Activities of Daily Living" or ADLs. When you can no longer perform a number of ADLs on your own, the insurance package should step in and start paying you benefits. ADLs include things like bathing, getting dressed, getting in and out of bed, and preparing meals. Some long term care insurance will also cover things like nursing care services and even help pay for the cost of moving to and living in an assisted living facility. You need to know exactly which services are covered and what terms the policy has for each-some have very strict assisted living facility guidelines, for example, and if you go to a facility that doesn’t meet these guidelines, the insurance will not pay for it.

You also want to see if your policy features a nonforfeiture benefit. This benefit includes some extra coverage in case you drop your insurance or let it lapse. Note, however, that this benefit will most likely raise your premium. You also want to know about a waiver of premium. This means you may be able to stop paying premiums while you’re receiving benefits. This waiver most likely will have a number of stipulations on it, so be sure you read it carefully.