HealthBridge's In-Home Care Blog

About thirty percent of our clients have long term care insurance policies and most of their adult children are looking into policies for themselves.  Although we occasionally hear questions about eligibility and coverage, the majority of the questions we hear about about cost - What does this policy cover?  When will it start paying?  How long will it last?

Yesterday, I met with advisers from John Hancock and Ameriprise to learn more about how our clients can make the best long term care insurance decisions for their families.  Specifically, I wanted to learn what our clients needed to know to effectively plan and budget for care.  Good news, I received a great answer.  

Answering these three questions will tell you what you need to know to initiate care and stay on plan and budget: 

1. How Long is the Waiting Period?  Most long term care insurance policies have a waiting period, sometimes referred to as an elimination period, at the beginning.  This is a period of time during which you must receive care and pay for it out of pocket before your benefits kick in.  We've seen these be as short as seven days and as long as ninety days.  It's critical that you understand your waiting period so you can properly budget for your out of pocket care expenses. 
   
2. What is the Daily or Monthly Maximum?  Most policies our clients hold (which were typically purchased 10+ years ago) have daily maximum reimbursement amounts.  This amount does not reflect the maximum amount you can spend on care, but rather on the maximum amount the insurance company will reimburse.  Some newer policies have shifted to monthly maximums to accommodate the occasional rise and fall in daily needs.   For budgetary purposes, it's essential to understand your daily or monthly maximum so you can contain costs.  
3. How Much is the Lifetime Maximum?  Similar to the daily or monthly maximum above, the lifetime maximum is the total amount the insurance company will pay throughout the life of the policy.  Although some policies have no lifetime maximum, most of them have between $100,000 - $500,000, which will cover several years of care.  

Once you have these questions answered, you will know when your long term care insurance benefits will begin, how much care they will cover each day and how long coverage will last. 

Do you have long term care insurance questions?  Please send us an email or leave a comment below.  

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