The Ins and Outs of Long-Term Care Insurance
by: M. Sanders
If you aren't considering the purchase of long-term care insurance as part of your retirement planning, then your plan isn't complete. I'm not saying everyone needs long-term care (LTC) insurance, but I am saying you need to educate yourself about the issues and decide how you want to address those financial concerns.
According to a recent MetLife survey, the average cost of a private nursing home room is about $70,000 per year.
The average stay in a nursing home varies by the type of condition that put you in the facility. For example, those who suffered strokes require an average of 21 months of care, those with cancer average 36 months, and those with Alzheimer's average 96 months. There are a dizzying array of options and features you'll need to understand if you are thinking about buying an LTC policy.
What daily benefit will you need?
The higher the daily benefit, the higher your premium. But you'll need to find a balance between daily benefit and cost.
How long will benefits last?
The typical stay at a nursing home is between three and five years, so make sure your coverage lasts for at least that long. Think about your own family's health history when choosing benefit periods. Have family members traditionally lived to ripe old ages or had dementia problems? If so, you may want a longer benefit period. Many policies offer unlimited benefits, although that gets expensive.
What's the elimination period?
The elimination period is comparable to the deductible on your other insurance policies. Your long-term care policy won't begin paying out for a certain number of days. Medicare typically pays for about 20 days. Most policies start with a 30- to 90-day elimination period, but you can increase that. The longer the elimination period, the cheaper your premium. Consider, too, that you may be able to pay out of pocket for six months or even a year of care. It's the long haul that might sink the financial ship.
Is the benefit inflation-protected?
Go for the guaranteed annual inflation increases rather than the opportunity to increase daily benefits down the road. This rider may be more expensive up front, but you have a better chance of keeping pace with inflation.
Is the policy guaranteed to be renewable?
This language guarantees that you can continue the policy as long as you pay your premiums. That includes coverage even if the company stops selling policies. This language does not, however, guarantee that your rates won't go up.
What level of care does the policy cover?
The policy should cover all levels of care, both skilled and nonskilled. Nurses are generally the ones providing skilled care. Nonskilled care includes assistance with activities that don't require a nurse, such as bathing, walking, and dressing. You should be able to use the benefits not only for care at a nursing home but also for home health care, day care, or assisted living.
Does the policy cover help at home?
Some policies will cover the costs of bringing people into your home to help with physical therapy, bathing, dressing, walking, and so on. Make sure the policy doesn't require a prior hospital stay before this benefit is available. Does the policy cover mental conditions? Sadly, Alzheimer's disease is a reality for many people. Be sure your policy includes all types of dementia.
How are premiums waived?
A typical policy will waive premiums after 90 days of skilled care. Check to see if the days must be consecutive. Also, find out when premiums kick back in if you get better and go home.
How financially stable is the insurer?
Research the financial rating of the company offering the policy. Check out ratings at A.M. Best's Web site. Several long-term care insurers have gone out of business. If you have a policy with a company that goes under, you still have a binding contract with that company. You do not have to surrender your contract unless you feel it is in your best interest.
Is the policy tax-qualified or nonqualified?
In 1996, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act was passed. Part of that law was a tax distinction for long-term care policies.
A qualified policy allows you to deduct premiums as a medical expense, up to certain limits, (to the extent all medical expenses exceed 7.5% of your adjusted gross income). Benefits from qualified policies are not considered taxable income (up to a limit of $240 a day for 2005). A doctor must certify that the insured will be unable to perform two or more activities of daily living (eating, going to the bathroom, moving from a bed to a chair, bathing, dressing, or maintaining continence) for the next 90 days or that the insured has been diagnosed with cognitive impairment (such as Alzheimer's). All policies issued before 1997 are considered qualified. The vast majority of policies issued today are qualified.
A nonqualified policy does not require a doctor's certification to pay benefits, but they set their own internal triggers of when to pay out benefits. For example, the policy may not include bathing as one of the daily living activities (and bathing is the number-one activity that people need help with). And you don't get the tax breaks that you would with a qualified policy. Do your homework on the companies issuing these policies to make sure they are financially solid.
For the complete article click on
Paying For Long-Term Care.
Some online resources for Long-Term Care Insurance include:
Allianz LTC Insurance
GE Long-Term Care Insurance
John Hancock LTC Insurance
Long-Term Care Insurance from MetLife
About The Author
M. Sanders is a long term care insurance marketing specialist. She is appointed throughout the United States as a long term care insurance representative with several major insurance carriers. Her website, About Long Term Care and LTC Insurance, contains information and articles pertaining to long term care, insurance and other related senior topics. It is her goal to inform the public about these increasingly important topics.
|
Keyman Insurance ? Protect yourself against some of your biggest businesses risks.
Keyman Insurance ? Protect yourself against some of your biggest businesses risks.
by: Michael Challiner
As a businessman you might have public liability insurance and you insure your buildings, stock and vehicles. You may even have professional indemnity insurance and legal cost insurance. Is that all? What about your other primary assets ? your key staff?
Key staff represent the heart of every businesses but no more so than the UK's 3.9 million small, often family, businesses that have up to 4 employees. Prolonged absence through serious illness or even death can be terminal for some of these enterprises. The risks are the same for limited companies, a partnerships and sole traders.
In this context Keyman Insurance is a must. Keyman Insurance represents a group of insurance plans all designed to financially protect business from the affects of prolonged illness or even death of staff who are central to the prosperity of the business...
Keyman Insurance ? Protect yourself against some of your biggest businesses risks.
Term life insurance > Keyman Insurance ? Protect yourself against some of your biggest businesses risks.
Critical Illness Insurance And Life Insurance Cover For Better And For Worse.
Critical Illness Insurance And Life Insurance Cover For Better And For Worse.
by: Rachel Lane
There are three main types of insurance cover you can buy to protect yourself and your family: life insurance, private medical insurance and critical illness insurance. If you want your financial health to be completely bionic then you could choose all three types of insurance, but if your family finances are more restricted, it might be better to insure yourself with critical illness insurance and life insurance. Critical illness insurance should not be confused with private medical insurance or even income protection insurance and it?s important that you do a full evaluation of your needs before you pursue the different insurance options.
The purpose of critical illness cover (CIC) is to fill a gap that is left by traditional life insurance policies, which will only provide a pay-out on the death of the policy holder. CIC provides a tax free lump...
Critical Illness Insurance And Life Insurance Cover For Better And For Worse.
Term life insurance > Critical Illness Insurance And Life Insurance Cover For Better And For Worse.
Online Health Insurance: The Truth About Cheap Quotes
Online Health Insurance:
The Truth About Cheap Quotes
by: Evan Davis
Looking for low cost health insurance quotes? Good. You are taking that most important step of shopping around for the best price. But more importantly, you undstand that it is important to have health insurance, and perhaps, even more importantly, understand that the real purpose of health insurance, as for any insurance, is protection. That is, you do not get health insurance to act as a sort of discount off the price of doctor and hospital services. The point of insurance is protection in the event of catastrophe. Yes, health insurance costs are high and continue to rise, but do not forget that the reason you are seeking health insurance quotes online--and even offline--is to insure you get the most protection (not discount) for the best (lowest) rate.
Getting health insurance quotes is now extremely easy with the use of the Internet. Take advantage of online insurance...
Online Health Insurance: The Truth About Cheap Quotes
Term life insurance > Online Health Insurance: The Truth About Cheap Quotes
Buying Insurance
Buying Insurance
by: Jeff Lakie
Insurance is one of the most unpleasant purchases that we have to make - it takes its place amongst those few things we buy that we hope we will never actually have to use. Many people, in fact, use this hope to argue against purchasing insurance in the first place - and while the chances are that we might never need it, this is one of those times in life when it is better to be safe than sorry.
As the expense of daily life continually mount, it can be easier to see the non-immediate need for insurance as illusory. I'm not sick now, am I? My house is fine - it doesn't look like tornado weather out there today. That will never happen to me - I'm not wasting all my hard earned money protecting against something that might never happen! Those insurance companies don't need any more money.
Unfortunately, this confidence is misplaced, as even the most intellectual of scholars cannot predict which one of us...
Buying Insurance
Term life insurance > Buying Insurance
Term Life Insurance Vs Permanent
Term Life Insurance Vs Permanent
by: Donald Lusan
Ever since the idea of term life insurance came to the mind of man term life insurance vs permanent has been the center of active and thought provoking debate. Term insurance is without question cheaper than permanent life insurance but when compared with the value built into the latter people have varying ideas as to which is best. What about the cash values and dividends you get from permanent policies? Do you just ignore these? How can cash values and dividends be used to offset cost? Questions worth answering aren't they?
The ever constant innovation of life insurance policies make it more and more difficult to come to a consensus. Term life insurance vs permanent will continue to provoke the thoughts of anyone considering a life insurance purchase. Because term is simplest I will discuss that one first then I will get to the complexities of permanent life insurance and it's varying alternatives.
The...
Term Life Insurance Vs Permanent
Term life insurance > Term Life Insurance Vs Permanent
Term Life And Whole Life Insurance
Term Life And Whole Life Insurance
by: Ivon T. Hughes
Which type of policy is best for you, term or whole life? The answer depends on several factors, including:
Your Needs. If you need coverage only until your children graduate from college, for example, you might be better off with a term life policy.
Cash-value insurance is better suited for long term needs, such as planning estate taxes and providing lifetime security for your spouse. Some term policies cannot be renewed past age 70 or 80 and can become costly to renew as you approach that age.
The Cost. If term life insurance is more suited to your budget and you want life time coverage, consider a term life policy which can be converted into a whole life policy. Then you can convert the policy whenever your cash flow or needs dictate. You can also purchase a combination of term life and whole life insurance and gradually shift into whole life insurance over time.
Your...
Term Life And Whole Life Insurance
Term life insurance > Term Life And Whole Life Insurance
Term Life Insurance
Term Life Insurance
by: Gary Tallon
Term life insurance is a life insurance product that pays out a cash lump sum upon death of the insurance policyholder or at the point that the insurance policyholder is diagnosed as terminally ill. But, despite it being a low cost term life product - insurance cover can be acquired from as little as ?5-?10 per month - surprisingly few of us have term life insurance in place.
For people with a mortgage and family to support, not having a term life insurance policy exposes them to a large financial risk. This risk becomes apparent when you consider how the mortgage and household bills would be paid if the main income producer were to die or to become terminally ill. The end result could be that loved ones who are left behind find their home is repossessed because they cannot keep up the mortgage repayments.
Some people prepare for such an eventuality by taking out a mortgage life insurance policy. This...
Term Life Insurance
Term life insurance > Term Life Insurance
Drinking Toxins? Good Health Begins With Filtered Water
Drinking Toxins? Good Health Begins With Filtered Water
by: Dawn Kornels
Enhancing your health with filtered water and lots of it is the foundation of good health. A person may be able to survive a couple of months without food but only a few days without water. Hydrating the body is the primary step towards optimal health. Water is necessary for the digestion and absorption of food. It affects the body's metabolism by moving nutrients, hormones, antibodies and...
Drinking Toxins? Good Health Begins With Filtered Water Term life insurance
Term life insurance > Drinking Toxins? Good Health Begins With Filtered Water
Term life insurance The Ins and Outs of Long-Term Care Insurance oil prices
Looking For Discount Shoes?
Looking For Discount Shoes?
by: Donald Yacono
Shop Online For Terrific Deals On Popular Footwear!
Smart consumers have discovered that purchasing discount shoes online has several major advantages. With more and more so-called ?brick and mortar? stores competing online these days for business, the consumer comes out the clear winner!
It is now possible to view a major shoe manufacturer?s entire product line right from the comfort of your own home....
Looking For Discount Shoes? shoes Term life insurance The Ins and Outs of Long-Term Care Insurance
Term life insurance > Looking For Discount Shoes?