What is Long Term Care Insurance?

A huge number of baby boomers are getting closer to their golden years, and many are considering long-term care insurance.  A recently released industry study, shows that two-thirds of Americans believe it’s important to plan for long-term care, but only 44% have taken steps to protect themselves. Many Americans believe their children will look after them. Others underestimate the need and the cost of long-term care insurance. Still others, wrongly believing that savings and government programs, such as Medicare and Medicaid, will easily cover the costs when needed.

Please be aware, MEDICARE does not cover assisted living or nursing home services. Nor does it cover the assistance of a home care aide in the home. Only Long Term Care Insurance will cover it.

While it’s crystal clear that more boomers should be preparing for their golden years, most of us don’t know what our best options are. “People recognize that long-term care is a need, but they attribute that need to somebody else,” says Mike Hamilton, an assistant vice president at Lincoln Financial Group.  However, if you suffer any illness, a surgery, age-related decrease in ability to take care of yourself, or cognitive decline and can no longer conduct normal activities of daily living, long term care insurance will cover the costs for your assistance.  In order to qualify to use your LTC insurance, you must need help with at least two of the six activities of daily living. These activities of daily living usually include bathing, dressing, feeding, ambulating, transferring and continence.

If you are considering Long Term Care Insurance, you need to make sure that you understand what Long-term care insurance is, what it covers and how to use it most effectively.

Long Term Care Insurance (LTC) is a separate policy that individuals usually purchase when they are between fifty and sixty years of age. The earlier you purchase, the lower your yearly insurance rate will be. This assures that in your later years of life, when you need it most, you will have an insurance policy that covers  nursing homes, as well as home care aides, so you can age in the privacy of your own home.

When researching LTC, you will see that there are many different policies, with different benefits, and pay out schedules. Each policy will either have a daily benefit, weekly benefit or monthly benefit. This is the amount of money that the insurance company will pay out towards services of a licensed and certified home health care professional. These benefits are specifically used to cover the costs of your care, whether you chose a nursing home, an assisted living facility, or home health care and other long-term care services.

Assistance with Filing Long Term Care Insurance

When choosing the agency or facility that will be providing help for you or your loved one, try to find one that offers assistance with the filing and compiling of insurance documents. Chances are you are going to be dealing with enough issues, it will be a blessing to have someone give you a hand with all the paperwork.

Platinum Select Care has a dedicated insurance department that will assist you in all aspects of your LTC insurance. We have years of experience working directly with most insurance companies. We will personally assist with initiating the claim, filling out the forms and submitting them for you. This will free you to concentrate on your health or that of your loved one. Platinum Select will also track your insurance claims and can accept assignment of benefits on your behalf. If you have any questions regarding Long Term Care insurance, feel free to contact us at Platinum Select Care, 561-998-3211.