For the most part, most people rely on Medicare and Medicaid to help offset the costs of senior care. However, these two public health insurance types are limited in what they can offer you most of the time, especially if you want to have some say in the care of yourself or your loved one.
Keep in mind that long term care insurance can be costly, especially if it is purchased in the senior years. The older someone gets, the more likely they are to need senior care, but the more a policy that will help to offset the cost becomes. Unfortunately, this is a necessary thing from the perspective of insurance companies. With that in mind, it’s really important to closely examine any policy that you might be purchasing, either for yourself or a loved one. The cost that goes into a policy can be a lot, especially if there are things included in the policy that you will not be using.
However, when an appropriate policy is selected, the upfront cost will be well worth the savings that are provided to the policy holder.
This isn’t quite so easy, though. LTC insurance is not one size fits all. Some are geared toward skilled nursing facilities, while other policies are designed to help the person in need to stay in their own home. Some will cover medical care only, while others are more flexible. Some policies will cover the cost of care for a couple years, while others will cover the cost for longer. It’s important that you know what you want out of care and that you find a policy that will meet those needs.
Unlike health insurance, long term care insurance policies don’t have any sort of standardization to them. Although they fall under the health insurance umbrella and can legally be sold by a licensed life, accident, and health insurance agent, the provisions from one company to another can be quite different. If you are shopping around for a policy, it’s important that you be aware of this and have a firm understanding of what the policy you are looking does and does not cover. It can be confusing if one company approaches coverage one way while another does it in a completely different way. It’s vital that you know what you’re getting, and what will be left up to you to pay for out of pocket.
Long term care insurance can be helpful, but it’s certainly not the right product for everyone. If you’re unsure of whether or not this type of coverage would be beneficial to you, be sure to talk to a professional in the field. Again, you will want to be careful simply because many insurance specialists have something to gain if they sell you a policy. Don’t settle for one opinion and always be sure to have someone you trust read over the policy before you agree to anything. Insurance is there to help, not hurt. If it’s not the right policy for you, don’t feel like you need to purchase it.
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