Long-Term Care Insurance - What You Need to Know

Long-term care insurance is one of those things that many people don’t want to think about because it reminds them that they may not always have their health.  Statistics have shown that 70% of those that reach age 65 will eventually need some type of long-term care.  Long-term care can cost as much as $250 per day, which could exhaust a lifetime of savings in a fairly short period of time.  Another thing to consider is that you never know how long you are going to need long-term care.  Far too many people are not preparing for their long-term care needs and are simply hoping for the best or trying not to think about it.  Making sure that you are ready in the event that you require long-term care is a critical part of planning for retirement.

At first glance, long-term care policies help to pay the costs associated with extended nursing care, assisted living centers, and home care.  These types of long-term care services can be expensive and you have no way of knowing how long you will need them.  Purchasing a long-term care policy is a great way to ensure that your future physical care needs will be taken care of.  Unfortunately, far too many people worry that the policies are too expensive or that they will purchase one and then not need it.  Individuals who have purchased a long-term care policy and kept it seldom regret the purchase even if they never need it because that means that they are in good health.  Additionally, it is doubtful that anyone who has purchased a long-term care policy and received the benefits of the policy has had regrets about the policy premiums that they paid.

The number of individuals who have long-term care policies has been calculated to be less than half of what it should be.  There are many misconceptions that prevent people from considering long-term care, such as the myth that Medicare covers long-term care.  Medicare does not cover long-term care.  Medicaid on the other hand, does pay for certain types and amounts of long-term care, but this is usually only for people with extremely low income.  Individuals that are quite wealthy will often be able to pay for their long-term care expenses directly.  Individuals with mid-level savings, which covers most of the population, are the individuals who need long-term care insurance the most.  This is because these individuals don’t have adequate savings to cover several years of long-term care costs, but are above the point of qualifying for Medicaid.  There are a number of different long-term care policy types that have varying levels of protection, but every one of these policies is preferable to going without long-term care insurance.