Long term care is the assistance a person may need with the basic activities of daily living – eating, bathing, dressing, transferring, toileting, and continence. It can also include supervision needed to protect a person’s health and safety. The need for long term care may develop from things such as an accident, illness, stroke, advanced age or other chronic condition such as Alzheimer’s, dementia or Parkinson’s disease. Long term care consists mainly of personal care rather than medical care, which is typically covered by a health plan.
Your financial plan was likely designed to help you save for years of retirement. To protect your savings, consider how you might pay for long term care services should the need arise for you or your spouse.
In some instances, families without long term care insurance may have to resort to withdrawing money from their savings and other retirement investments to pay for long term care costs like these when a loved one needs care.
LTC services are not typically covered by health insurance plans.
Medicare may help pay for limited LTC services under certain circumstances. Medicaid requires that recipients spend down their savings and assets to meet state poverty guidelines.
Some people rely on care from family and friends, but that can sometimes impact the financial, physical and emotional health of entire families.
While an option for some, saving and paying for long term care out of your own pocket can be difficult for some families. Just a few years of long term care could impact your retirement savings.
Planning with long term care insurance can help protect your finances, provide peace of mind, and let you decide where care would be received.
Your own home by family caregivers or home health aides Assisted living facilities Nursing home or hospice facility Adult day care centers
LTC insurance also supports family caregivers and can help ease the financial and emotional impacts of caregiving.
On average, women are more likely to require long term care services than men.
You may be at an increased risk for a chronic condition such as Alzheimer’s disease, cancer, diabetes or stroke if a close family member has had one or more of these conditions.
Select a plan design with a premium that fits within your current budget. It is a good idea to apply for coverage now while you are younger and likely healthier.
The costs of long term care services can vary greatly by geographic location.
Long term care costs vary based on where services are received (at home, in the community at an assisted living facility, or at a nursing home).
In general, the younger & healthier you are:
The lower your premium will be
The more likely you may be insurable (based on underwriting criteria)
Age and health make a big difference when getting LTC insurance coverage — putting it off can be a costly mistake. An accident or chronic illness requiring care can happen at any age.
LifeSecure is flexible. We give you the power to set coverage levels and premiums based on your perceived needs and personal budget. And our policy design offers tremendous flexibility when a claim arises, by providing coverage for a broad range of providers and services, including informal caregivers and family members.
LifeSecure is simple. Unlike other long term care insurance products, LifeSecure uses a simple Benefit Bank℠ design, with few riders and add-ons. We remove the confusion and make it easier to choose the coverage you want.
LifeSecure is affordable. If you thought long term care insurance was out of reach – think again. LifeSecure makes it easy to choose the right coverage levels based on your target premium.
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1 Health Affairs, Financing Long-Term Services and Supports: Options Reflect Trade-Offs For Older Americans and Federal Spending, November 2015 2 LIMRA and Life Happens. 2015 Insurance Barometer Study. Windsor, CT. 2015 3 Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. Long-Term Care in America: Americans’ Outlook and Planning for Future Care. Chicago, IL. 2015 4 Genworth Cost of Care Survey 2017 5 AARP, Valuing the Invaluable: 2015 Update 6 ACLI, Who Will Pay for Our Long-Term Care, November 2014
