Long Term Care Insurance FAQ's

How Does Long Term Care Differ From Health and Disability Insurance?

• Long Term Care Insurance (LTC) is a relatively new kind of policy. It pays for hired help either in your home, a nursing home or skilled nursing facility. It pays for help with personal care activities such as getting dressed, bathing, taking medications, or using the toilet. It can provide not only for elderly people but also for younger ones who became disabled due to accidents or chronic illnesses.
  

• Health insurance and Medicare policies pay for medical charges like drugs, doctors' fees, hospital bills, medical equipment like wheelchairs, etc. They pay little if anything for long term care of elderly or disabled people.
  

• Disability Insurance policies are designed to replace the income of a breadwinner who becomes either permanently or temporarily disabled.

How Does a LTC Policy Protect Senior Citizens?

• Medicare does not pay for nursing home care, and places limits on the time and eligibility for its payments to skilled nursing facilities. Usually Senior Citizens must "spend down" their savings and assets before the federal government will pay for nursing home care through Medicaid. Many Americans end up using all the money from the sale of their homes to pay for care in later life.
  

• Long-term Care coverage can protect family inheritances by paying for nursing home care or caregivers in the home.

How Does Long Term Care Insurance Protect Young Families?

• If a family member requires long term care because of an accident or chronic illness, A Long Term Care policy protects families from going through their savings to pay for nursing home care or from having a family member quit a job to provide care at home.

How Does Age Affect the Price of a Longterm Care Policy?

• In general, the younger you begin coverage, the less your coverage will cost.