Long Term Care (LTC) Insurance
Long Term Care insurance (LTC) is one of the most misunderstood types of insurance. It’s also one of the most needed by many of our clients. We can answer your questions about long term care insurance. Bruce is also a certified California Partnership for Long Term Care agent.
Call Sackrison Insurance at (707) 931-0186 for a review today.
Call Sackrison Insurance at (707) 931-0186 for a review today.
Do I need long term care insurance?
By the time you’ve reached age 65, roughly 70% of you who are reading this will eventually require some kind of long term care. That’s a 7 out of 10 chance that someone will have to pay for expensive care on your behalf in your later years of life. There are three ways to get those long term care bills paid:
If you are in the great Middle Class when you retire, you will have accumulated some assets (hopefully). All of these assets must be “spent down” on your very expensive long term care, should you need it (there’s a 7 out of 10 chance that you will).
In other words, before you get any assistance to pay for your extended care, you will first have to spend down every last dollar that you saved all of your life – assets and savings that you wanted to pass down to your children and grandchildren.
So the answer to “Do I need long term care insurance? is this: are you in the middle class, and do you have assets that you wish to pass on to your loved ones? If the answers are yes, then you need to consider long term care insurance.
- The Wealthy may have enough to pay their own way.
- The Middle Class can pay part of their way, but will eventually be drained of assets.
- The Poor qualify for medicaid, and can get some help with long term care.
If you are in the great Middle Class when you retire, you will have accumulated some assets (hopefully). All of these assets must be “spent down” on your very expensive long term care, should you need it (there’s a 7 out of 10 chance that you will).
In other words, before you get any assistance to pay for your extended care, you will first have to spend down every last dollar that you saved all of your life – assets and savings that you wanted to pass down to your children and grandchildren.
So the answer to “Do I need long term care insurance? is this: are you in the middle class, and do you have assets that you wish to pass on to your loved ones? If the answers are yes, then you need to consider long term care insurance.
What does long term care insurance cover?
We get to use the phrase “Activities of Daily Living” (ADL) to help answer this question. Simply stated, long term care insurance can help pay for assistance that you may need someday to do any of these things:
- Eating
- Bathing
- Dressing
- Toileting & Continence Issues
- Transferring from bed to chair and back again
Do I have to be in a nursing home for my long term care insurance to pay?
No. Your long term insurance policy can cover you in many different places, such as:
- At home
- In a residential care facility
- In Adult Day Care
- In a nursing home
What kind of questions should I ask when purchasing a long term care insurance policy?
You mean after asking how much it costs? (We understand how important it is to tailor a plan to your budget!) Here are a few things you could discuss with Bruce Sackrison when you are considering a long term care policy:
- How solid is the financial rating of the company?
- Can I qualify for the coverage? (Am I insurable?)
- How long will benefits be payable?
- What is the maximum lifetime payout?