Long Term Care Health Insurance Quotes
Long term care is something you may need if you can no longer perform everyday tasks by yourself. For example, there may come a time when you need help getting dressed, eating or bathing. It also includes the kind of care you would need if you had a severe cognitive impairment like Alzheimer's disease. You can receive this care in a variety of settings, including your home, an assisted living facility or a nursing home.
If you, your spouse or family member were to need long term care, the cost could deplete more than your own hard-earned assets. Without long term care insurance, the financial burden of caring for you could fall on your family.
What Long Term Care Health Insurance Is Not
Long term care isn't the type of care that you receive in the hospital or your doctor's office. It isn't the medical care you need to get well from a sickness or an injury. It isn't short-term rehabilitation from an accident or recuperation from surgery.
Long term care is not always administered in a nursing home. In fact, more than 80% of all people receiving long term care assistance are not in nursing homes.
You may think that long term care services are covered by your health plan or disability insurance. That's usually not the case. Health insurance is designed to cover medical care for illnesses or injuries, such as cancer, a broken arm, or a stroke. For example, it will pay the hospital bills you incur for a stroke. It won't pay for long term assistance with activities of daily living, such as dressing or using the bathroom.
As for disability insurance, it is designed to replace the income you lose if you're unable to work, due to accident or injury. Disability benefits will help you pay your mortgage or your normal household expenses. Disability insurance provides no additional benefits for long term care.
Who Needs Long Term Care Health Insurance?
People of any age can develop serious conditions that require assistance with routine daily activities for an extended period of time and such help could be very costly. Long term health care insurance can help cover the cost of this care and protect your assets.
The odds are that you will need long term care at some point in your life, and you may need it sooner than you think. About 40% of people needing long term care are adults ages 18-64. They may have had an accident, a stroke, be diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, etc. While we hope you never need it, everyone should have a plan for meeting their long term health care needs. Many will do so through long term care insurance.
Things To Think About
What is your life expectancy? What financial assests are available to you? How healthy were your parents, and if not still living, at what age did they die? What is your budget for insurance costs?
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