What Does Long Term Care Insurance Cover?

long term care insurance
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Planning for the Additional Care You May Need as You Age

Chances are good that as you enter and move through your golden years, you will need some sort of long term care insurance. You may think that you have everything you’ll need already set up between Medicare and whatever supplemental health insurance you have set up, but you may actually need more coverage.

As more and more of us are living longer, we are encountering the burden of caring for ourselves as we experience the health challenges associated with aging. One such cost is for long term medical assistance. Many financial experts are recommending long term care coverage as part of a solid financial plan for anyone as they age past fifty. Here’s what you need to know about long term care insurance.

Long Term Care Insurance

Long term care insurance is, simply put: insurance coverage that provides for the costs associated with your care should you develop a chronic condition of some sort, experience a disorder of some kind, or a disability that requires consistent care in either your home or an assisted living facility.

It is important to note that waiting until you need such care to purchase insurance is not really an option. If you’ve already developed some sort of disorder, disability, or chronic condition that requires it, you likely will not be able to qualify for this kind of insurance. That is one reason that it makes greater sense to purchase coverage while you are still relatively young and healthy.

How Long Term Care Insurance Policies Work

Once you’ve selected a long term care insurance provider and applied and qualified for coverage, you will pay premiums on the policy for the duration of your coverage. That coverage will begin once you’ve become unable to complete a couple of what are called “activities of daily living” on your own.

Similarly, if you begin to suffer from Alzheimers or another condition that impairs your cognitive ability, coverage will kick in. These conditions include bathing yourself, feeding yourself, getting in and out of bed, dressing, and other basic tasks associated with living.

What Long Term Care Insurance Covers

The main reason for buying long term care insurance revolves around the fact that it covers what general health insurance does not. Specifically, these include the costs associated with in-home long term health care, or nursing home or assisted living care.

Regular health insurance does not typically pay for the help you may need completing the tasks associated with daily living should you experience disability or a debilitating condition.

What Long Term Care Insurance Costs

Rates for long term care coverage vary widely depending on where you live and several other factors. Rates vary a bit from company to company, and depend greatly on the amount of coverage you are seeking.

There are also differences in policy costs associated with your age when you apply your gender (women live longer than men in general), and other factors associated with your likelihood to need coverage down the line.

Protecting and Providing for Yourself Over the Long Term

The two primary reasons why many people are electing to purchase long term care coverage are first, to protect their savings, and second, to provide for better quality of care and greater diversity of care options as they age. In the end, long term care policies are a great investment in your financial and physical health as you age.

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