Long-Term Care Insurance

Long-term care helps one live as he or she is now; it may not help to improve or correct medical problems. Long-term care is different from traditional medical care, and does do not necessarily include services required by a doctor. Long-term care services may include help with activities of daily living, home health care, respite care, hospice care, adult day care, care in a nursing home and care in an assisted living facility. Long-term care may also include care management services, which will evaluate your needs and coordinate and monitor the delivery of long-term care services.

Long-term care services can be paid for in a variety of ways: using your personal financial resources, your family members, purchasing long-term care insurance, or Medicaid (for those that qualify).

Long-term care insurance is one way you may pay for long-term care expenses. This type of insurance will pay for some or all of your long-term care. It was introduced in the 1980s as nursing home insurance but has since changed and now covers much more than nursing care alone. Whether you should buy a long-term care insurance policy will depend on several factors including your age, health, overall retirement goals, income and assets. Many people that purchase a long-term care policy do so because they can afford to do so and want to stay independent of government aid or the help of the family. They don’t want to burden anyone having to care for them. If you already have health problems (for example, Alzheimer’s disease or Parkinson’s disease) you probably will not pass insurance underwriting (government regulated).

Long-term care insurance is not the right fit for everyone’s personal and financial needs. In most cases, people without an appropriate level of assets to protect may be better off without tying up precious funds in long-term care insurance. This does not mean you should not purchase long-term care insurance. Rather, you should ensure that you understand the policy you are purchasing and further ensure it meets your personal and financial needs.

Private insurance companies offer long-term care insurance policies. VibrantUSA represents several of these insurance companies. If you are interested in learning more about long-term care insurance, give us a call today at (866) 733-5111 or send us a note from our Contact Us Page.