When it comes to planning for a sound financial future, young professionals building a career have much to think about. And, it’s only natural to think of long-term care as something essentially for one’s parents or grandparents. Nothing could be farther from the truth and regrettably many people put off gaining an understanding of the topic until it is too late. The analogy is waiting for a hurricane to hit your city before devising a plan to protect your home and family.

What Is Long-Term Care? Quite simply, long-term care refers to a broad range of medical and personal services and assistance that is provided over an extended period of time. Most people associate needing long-term care as a result of aging or a cognitive impairment such as Alzheimer’s disease. But, many younger people require long-term care services following accidents. Typical ones you hear about are motorcycle accidents or falling off the roof while cleaning gutters.

The mention of long-term care also generally brings to mind images of a nursing home. Again, a false impression, as most long-term care today takes place in ones own home or a facility other than a skilled nursing care facility.

Who Pays for Long-Term Care? Generally speaking, any health insurance you may have on either an individual basis or through your employer only pays for doctor and hospital bills. As a result, most of the costs for long-term care are not covered by these plans. And, when you reach retirement age and qualify for Medicare, it’s important to understand that Medicare pays little of the cost (if any) for long-term care.

So, who pays? Most often the individual receiving the care or their family members pay. Like medical expenses, long-term care can be equally costly – especially if you have to pay the entire cost from your own savings. Some 30 years ago, insurers began offering a form of protection called long-term care insurance designed to pay for qualifying care. Today, some eight million Americans – ranging in age from their 20s to their 90s own long-term care insurance protection. That number grows yearly.

What Does Insurance Cost? The cost of long-term care insurance is determined by certain factors. These include your age when applying for protection, the amount of benefit you are eligible to receive and whether you opt for protection that pays for care in your own home.

The younger you are, the less long-term care insurance protection costs. But, while insurance premiums generally increase about nine percent for each year you wait to apply, here is the most important fact younger people fail to recognize; one must health qualify for long-term care insurance. Your good health today can qualify you for significant yearly savings (similar to how good driving habits will reduce your car insurance). Perhaps more important, a change in your health — even one that is not life threatening — can cause you to pay as much as 20 percent more each year or make it impossible for you to qualify no matter how much you are willing to pay.

Long-term care insurance protection can be far more affordable than young people think. Leading insurance companies offer discounts to married couples that can reduce the cost by 40 percent yearly when both partners obtain coverage. An increasing number offer discounts for unmarried adults who are living together.

Some other ways to significantly reduce the cost is by adding a deductible period (referred to as an Elimination Period in long-term care insurance protection), choosing a limited benefit period (say one that pays benefits for three years versus one that provides unlimited coverage.

Can Insurance Be Tax Deductible? The short answer is, it can be — especially if you own your own business. Recognizing that government programs do not adequately pay for long-term care insurance, federal and a growing number of stet tax codes now offer tax incentives to encourage Americans to take personal responsibility for their future long-term care needs.

Business owners can deduct the cost of long-term care insurance protection for themselves, for their spouse and their tax dependents on a favorable basis. Owners may be able to deduct 100 percent of the cost and a knowledgeable long-term care insurance professional can tell you how to qualify.

Does Your Employer Offer LTC Protection? Long-term care insurance policies are increasingly being offered as an employee benefit. In many cases these policies offer outstanding benefits and affordable protection. Some employers will even pay for a base-level of insurance protection and allow employees to purchase additional levels at discounted rates. If your employer offers you a minimal level of long-term care protection at no cost. be certain to take advantage of this no-cost benefit.

Younger individuals who would qualify for good health discounts as well as spousal and partner discounts should compare policies offered by the employer with those available from an independent insurance professional. You may find you are able to obtain higher levels of protection for less cost.

Getting More Information: When you are ready to get prices for protection or determine if any existing health conditions will prevent you from obtaining insurance coverage, contact an experienced local long-term care insurance professional.

To find a comprehensive online directory of over 3,000 insurance professionals who can assist with your long-term care insurance needs, visit the Consumer Information Center of the American Association for Long-Term Care Insurance.

The American Association for Long-Term Care Insurance is the national trade organization providing consumers with relevant and current information designed to help you make smarter decisions. The Association does not sell insurance products but works with several thousand insurance and financial professionals nationwide. To find a comprehensive online directory of over 3,000 insurance professionals who can assist with your long-term care insurance needs, visit the Consumer Information Center of the American Association for Long-Term Care Insurance. Insurance and financial professionals should visit the Association’s Producer’s Resource Center. Jesse Slome is Executive Director of the Association.

Article Source: https://EzineArticles.com/expert/Jesse_Slome/177469

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Long term care insurance is designed to protect you and your loved ones in the event that long term care is needed. Nearly one out of every two persons who are age 65 and older will likely spend some time in a nursing home. The average dollar amount for nursing home expenses per year is $30,000. However, if you live in a major metropolitan area the average costs rises to around $60,000 and in some cases as much as $100,000.

The average stay of a senior in a nursing home is around nineteen months which means those seniors who live in a major metropolitan area would spend $100,000 in long term care in addition to medical expenses and prescriptions. If you have aging parents, or perhaps you are now a senior citizen, long term care insurance may be something you need to consider, because once consumers need the benefits of a long term care policy, they may be physically, emotionally, or mentally disabled and not in a position to assert their rights.

Understanding the jargon of the long term care insurance business and the comparing policies of different companies is essential in order to insure you get the coverage you desire.

IS LONG TERM CARE COVERED UNDER MY HEALTH INSURANCE?

Health insurance and its supplements are not designed for long term care and will not cover nursing home expenses. Medicaid is a welfare program that acts as a safety net for health care but does not address long term care and will not cover long term expenses for the average American. Medicare, although it does allow for skilled nursing care under certain eligibility requirements, also has limited care. Without long term care insurance, families and individuals must tap into their savings, assets and cash to pay the expenses incurred for long term care.

WHAT DOES LONG TERM CARE INSURANCE COVER?

Most long term care insurance policies offer coverage in the following four basic areas.

1. Rehabilitation training at home or in a nursing home
2. Skilled nursing administered either at home or in a long term care facility
3. Daily needs such as eating, bathing, dressing
4. Care of those with a cognitive impairment such as Alzheimer’s

HOW DOES LONG TERM HEALTH CARE INSURANCE WORK?

Like any insurance product, the insured pays a premium for long term health care insurance in order to protect against the high expenses of a health condition that necessitates long term care. When purchasing long term care insurance there are different options that a buyer should be aware of.

Choosing Coverage. Many Long-term Care policies offer an option that allows you to choose whether you want coverage only for nursing home care, or only for home care. Or, you can elect to choose coverage that allows for a combination of care options that includes day care for adults, nursing home, and assisted living. You may also wish to choose another option provided by some long term care policies that allows for a friend or a family member to be paid to care for an individual at home.

Choosing Benefits. The length of the benefit period in which you will receive benefits from your policy is determined by you. You may choose to receive benefits from two to six years, or you may wish to be covered for the rest of your life. Also to be considered is the amount of money an insurance company will pay on a daily or monthly basis. This is important to keep in mind as any care expenses that exceed the designated daily or monthly amount of your benefits will have to be paid out of your own pocket.

Protection against Inflation. Long term care insurance policies offer two main types of inflation protection: automatic coverage increases and the ability to add coverage at a later date to your present policy. As health care costs continue to rise year after year this is a very important feature to consider or you might find out in the future that your policy does not cover a good portion of your expenses.

Waiting Period or Elimination Period. During this period, which could last from zero to a hundred days, all long-term health expenses must be paid by you. However, the longer your waiting period is, the lower generally your premiums will be.

Protection against Insurance Cancellation. Policies that carry a Non-Forfeiture Benefit will continue to pay the expenses for your care even if you stop paying your premiums. Premiums cost could be from 10 percent to 100 percent higher if you choose this feature.

WHAT ARE SOME OTHER IMPORTANT FEAUTRES I SHOULD LOOK FOR IN A LONG TERM CARE POLICY?

- Contains a one time deductible for the life of the policy
- Permits you to choose a policy with less coverage if you cannot afford your current premiums
- Requires NO time spent in the hospital before you are eligible to receive benefits
- Cannot be cancelled as long as you continue to pay your premiums
- Has a feature which includes coverage for dementia

WORDS TO THE WISE

Rely only on what you read and understand in the policy. Taking a sales agent’s word could mean a claim that is submitted in the future would be denied on some point you did not understand.

Do not buy a policy until you fully understand all of the policy’s terms. If need be, hire someone who can and will make sure you are making an informed decision.

If you choose not to get a legal opinion, deal only with a respected and established insurance brokerage firm that has shown itself reliable in your community for many years. The advantage of dealing with an insurance broker is that he is an independent agent for many insurance companies and he will be able to explain the advantages and disadvantages of various policies in the marketplace.

When buying long term care insurance make it a family decision. Bring everyone together who has an interest; your spouse, your children your siblings, a close friend. Having the input of those who care about you can help you avoid some of the pitfalls in choosing long term health care insurance.

There is one final item to offer as food for thought before you purchase an LTC insurance policy. Only five out of every one hundred 60 year old consumers who take out long term care insurance policies in 1995 will still have coverage in place at age 80 when they need it due to the rising costs of high premiums which will force them to drop their coverage.

LONG TERM CARE INSURANCE RATE QUOTES