What is Long-Term Care?
Someone with a prolonged physical illness, a disability, or a cognitive impairment (such as Alzheimer's disease) often needs long-term care. Many different services help people with chronic conditions overcome limitations that keep them from being independent. Long-term care is different from traditional medical care. Long-term care helps one live as he or she is now; it may not help to improve or correct medical problems. Long-term care services may include help with activities of daily living, home health care, respite care, hospice care, adult day care, care in a nursing home, and care in an assisted living facility. Long-term care may also include care management services, which will evaluate your needs and coordinate and monitor the delivery of long-term care services.
Is Long-Term Care Insurance Right For You? |
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You should CONSIDER buying Long-Term Care Insurance if:
- You want to protect some of your assets and income.
- You can pay premiums, including possible premium increases, without
financial difficulty.
- You want to stay independent of the support of others.
- You want to have the flexibility of choosing care in the setting you prefer
or will be most comfortable in.
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Will Your Health Affect Your Ability to Buy a Policy?
Companies that sell long-term care insurance medically "underwrite" their coverage. They look at your health and health history before they decide to issue a policy. You may be able to buy coverage through an employer or another type of group without any health underwriting or with more relaxed underwriting. Insurance companies' underwriting practices affect the premiums they charge you now and in the future.
No matter how the company underwrites, you must answer certain questions that the company uses to decide if it will insure you.
*Above information found in "A Shopper's Guide to Long-Term Care Insurance" published by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners
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