Long Term Care
Long Term Care Insurance
LTCI pays if you get sick or hurt and need assistance with your Activities of Daily Living. A good policy can help protect your assets.
Your policy pays you or your care providers if you need to enter a facility like a nursing home or an adult daycare facility. Just as importantly, it pays if you stay in your own home but need to hire someone to help you get through the day.
Here's how it works:
After an elimination period, typically 90 or 100 days, a policy will pay up to its daily or monthly benefit in one of two ways.
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An Indemnity policy sends a tax-free check to you for every month that you qualify, until your policy limits have been reached.
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A Reimbursement policy pays your providers, not you. You must present bills and wait for the insurance company claims department to "scrub the bills" and let you know if, and how much, qualifies for reimbursement. It makes sense that this type of policy has a lower premium than an indemnity policy for this reason.
Here's how you qualify for benefits with most policies:
If you need help with 2 out the 6 "Activities of Daily Living" (ADL's)
OR
You have a cognitive impairment (such as Alzheimer's or dementia) and are a danger to yourself or others.
The six ADL's are:
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Bathing
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Dressing
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Eating
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Toileting
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Incontinence
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Transferring (from a wheelchair to a bed for instance)
Long Term Care is a terrific benefit for yourself and your family. Not only does it provide the money to pay for care, it can establish a team of care management professionals who can help you and your family navigate the murky and sometimes embarrassing waters of diminishing function and declining health.
LTCI truly is a gift you give your family so that they have the assistance they may need to care for you at a difficult time.
Drop me a line to discuss.
Gary Rosenberg, CFP, CLU, CLTC
248-LIFEMAN
