Long Term Care Insurance
What is it ?
As simple as the title suggests, it is an insurance policy that covers the cost of proving the care (up to a predetermined amount) if and when a person needed care on a long term basis
Who needs Long Term Care?
When a person has a cognitive impairment and or physically he/she is unable to do some basic function of life. The person is in need of long term care. Basic functions of life are called ADLS - Activities of Daily Living.
They are mainly six function that we do on a daily basis:
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Eating
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Bathing
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Dressing
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Toileting
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Continence
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Transferring
When a person needs help with any of the two or more activities he/she qualifies for long term care.
There are some basic myths about Long Term Care. “My health insurance will pay “-“ my family will take care.” While the first two are not true, the last one is totally unpredictable. Medicaid will pay. True, they do if you are poor + broke health insurance does not pay.
Assistance with ADLS can be provided at nursing home, or at an assisted living facility or at home depending on the severity of the care. A policy that cover these expenses would be called a long-term care insurance policy.
The statistics show one in three after the age of 65 will need some kind of long term care the care could cost somewhere between 75k to 100k+ annually depending on where you live in the US.
Finally the question is: Should I buy this kind of policy - Long Term Care easy way - “Not a recommendation”- is to look at these factors:
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I am rich and I can afford to pay for those expenses if it happens
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I am poor and broke and Medicaid will pay for it
In both cases probably there is no need.
Now the last case that most of us fall in – I am not very rich or very poor and I cannot afford the expenses (if it happens you may need & consider buying such a policy).