With more of the United States living longer, there is now a much greater chance that more people will suffer a long-term disability such as degenerative conditions (e.g. stroke, Parkinson’s, etc.), a terminal illness (cancer) or cognitive disorders (e.g. Alzheimer’s). Long term care involves many services including home-health care, psychological and physical services to persons requiring supportive help for a long time. Not everyone will need long term care, but why risk the life you’ve worked so hard to build? When the average American Baby Boomer retires, the potential devastating high cost of Long Term Care should be on their mind. LTC Insurance protects you from:
1. Being a burden to your family
2. Protects your Savings
3. Ensures you will get quality care
4. Aversion to Welfare
5. Maintains your independence
What is LTC?
Long-Term Care Insurance covers:
- custodial care entails help with everyday activities such as eating, bathing, dressing, transferring (ex: moving from a bed to a chair), toileting, and maintaining your continence
- Professional nursing care or rehabilitation training at home or at a professional facility
- cognitive impairment (Alzheimer’s or dementia)
What is the potential cost you may face?
The Costs of LTC Services can be devastating
There’s a reason that long-term care insurance is one of the fastest growing insurance plans on the market today; the costs of long-term care services are extreme and estimated to rise to around $200,000 per year per person by 2030.
The average yearly cost for care paints the picture:
Nursing Home – $90,500
Home Care – $47,934
Assisted Living Facility – $45,000
According to an official at Genworth Financial’s Long-Term Care unit in Richmond, Virginia.
Those costs can deplete your nest-egg quickly. With the average stay at 2.4 years, for instance, the average cost of nursing home care is now $217,200 per person or $434,400 for a married couple.
What are the chances you’ll need LTC?
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You have about a 1 in 1200 chance of losing everything in a house fire. (but surely your home is covered)
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You have a 1 in 240 chance of a major auto accident. (but you wouldn’t drive without auto insurance)
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But you have about a 50% chance that you’ll need long term care at some point in your life (so why wouldn’t you insure your independence?)
Source: “The real facts about Long Term Care Insurance,” Life Health Advisor Magazine, April 2002.
Where can you receive your care?
1. Receive care in you own Home with Home Health Care.
2. Assisted Living Facilities
3. Adult Day Care Facilities
4. Nursing Home
For a more in-depth view of long term care insurance try:
Who pays for long term care (LTC)?
- A lot of people mistakenly think that Medicare, Medicaid, or even their health insurance plan will cover their LTC costs.
- Medicare has strict eligibility requirements for professional nursing care only and pays for only 20 days of care.
- Medicaid is a welfare program and to qualify you must spend down your assets to poverty levels.
- Health insurance does not include nursing home care.
- The reality is that individuals pay for their own Long Term Care by liquidating their CD’s, Stocks, Savings account, or eventually selling the family home. Protect you and your family from this disturbing problem.
How would you like a Long Term Care plan that returns all the premiums that you have ever paid if you never use your policy?
Several of our top providers offer this “Return of Premium Option” which will refund all premiums paid to your family if you never use your LTC policy.
Long Term Care Insurance Company Ratings
Buying long-term care insurance (LTCI) is a smart decision for most people between 45-80. LTC helps pay for nursing home care, assisted living care, and for home health care assistance when you get older and to the point you can’t take care of yourself. Far too few people choose to buy it and plan for this potential devastating problem. Here are some basic guidelines that will assist you if you are thinking of purchasing LTC insurance:
1. You want to consider companies that have been rated “A++”, A+, or A. (by A.M. Best), which means they have solid financial standings. An “A” rated company also means they are less likely to raise your rates in a few years and they will be there to pay your claim for home health care or nursing home care.
2. The prime age to buy is late 40’s, 50s to early 60s. So if you have aging parents, talk to them about it because you might have to pay their nursing home bill one day or lose your inheritance if they fail to plan.
Here is a list of companies that have been rated either A++ or A+ by A.M. Best as of 9/1/2006
| HONOR ROLL | |
| John Hancock Life Insurance Co. | A++ |
| Massachusetts Mutual Life Ins. Co. | A++ |
| New York Life Insurance Co. | A++ |
| USAA Life Insurance. Co. | A++ |
| Northwestern Mutual Life | A++ |
| HONORABLE MENTION | |
| Genworth Financial (formally GE) | A+ |
| Metropolitan Life Insurance Co. | A+ |
| Prudential Insurance Co of America | A+ |
| Allianz Life of North America | A |
Source: A.M. Best
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Request your Information Now By: The smart, easy way to shop for Long-Term Care coverage To receive your free policy comparisons and quotes, please complete this simple, secure form below, and then sit back and relax. We will shop the entire market of companies to find you the absolute best value! No more moving from company to company in search of the best product that fits your needs because we work with all the major LTC companies and have no preference to any one of them. We’ll simply will find you the best. Your customized analysis includes:
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