Long-term care insurance is a type of insurance that most people aren’t as familiar with as other types.  It is designed to protect your savings and way of life as you get older.  Long-term care is usually required by individuals due to the aging process, whether due to physical limitations, chronic disease, or some form of cognitive impairment.  All of the activities that you do now each day such as getting out of bed, showering, getting dressed, using the toilet, and eating meals, may become much more difficult to do as you get older.  Long-term care is designed to allow you to remain living in your own home, while gaining assistance with getting around town and performing daily activities.

There is a common misconception that Medicare and/or individual health insurance policies will cover the cost of people’s long-term care expenses.  While Medicare and individual health insurance plans do pay for a portion of costs associated with care while recovering from a hospital stay, they will not cover long-term care expenses resulting from declining health, chronic disease, and assistance with daily living activities. 

Many people don’t consider long-term care insurance until their own health or the health of a loved one has diminished considerably.  While it may be easy to put off considering long-term care insurance, avoiding it altogether can end up being extremely costly.  Assisted living facilities and nursing homes can be extremely expensive without insurance to cover them.  You typically need assisted living or to live in a nursing home when you are no longer able to perform basically daily functions and activities.  One incentive to begin thinking about long-term care insurance sooner rather than later is that the younger you are when you purchase it, the less expensive your premiums will be.

Long-term care can be not only expensive, but also mentally exhausting for loved ones caring for someone.  While long-term care insurance may not be the solution to the costs associated with aging for everybody, it’s very important for everybody to think about their potential long-term care expenses and come up with a plan for how they will be handled.