Long Term Care Health Insurance - A Closer Look
Kids today face an ever growing number of temptations ranging
from drinking and smoking, drugs, gambling and pre-martial sex.
Unfortunately, due to their youth and inexperience they fail to
realize that what they do in their youth can have a great effect
on their quality of life as they grow older.
On the other hand, as people grow older and approach retirement
age they begin to realize that the carelessness of their youth
did have a profound effect on the quality of their life but now
they are ready to do whatever it takes to remove as much risk as
they can. As a result, an ever increasing trend has been the
purchasing of long term care health insurance as one way of
reducing the financial risk a prolonged illness poses.
Long term health insurance is one the best ways to reduce
whatever fears you may have in terms of how you'll be able to
take care of your health after (and in some cases at a much
younger age if you are the victim of an untimely accident)
retirement as well as ensure your family (your spouse, children
and even your grandchildren) that they won't get saddled with
the potentially huge amount of debt that can result from the
high-cost of medical care. Long term care health insurance is
one of the best ways to guarantee that not only will you receive
higher quality care but that you won't lose a lifetime worth of
savings in the process.
Because health care costs continue to rise at dramatic rates
nearly every year, it's becoming increasing advisable to begin
coverage much earlier in life. Traditionally, individuals
wouldn't even consider long term care until nearing retirement
or even until after retirement but you may want to reconsider
your thinking if that's been your plan. A few big reasons you
may want to consider looking into long term care health
insurance as early as your mid 50's are premiums and approval.
Policies taken out when someone is in their early 50's (this is
still seen as a favorable age group ) is much less expensive
then one initiated in their early to mid 60's and the older you
get the higher the premiums.
However, if you take out a policy when you are younger you will
continue to pay the same premium even as you get older. Sure,
you may pay for 10, 15 or 20 years before you need it but when
you do need it you'll have much better coverage.
Another big reason you may want to consider taking out a policy
earlier in life is that you greatly increase your odds of
getting approved with no riders or other exclusions. Once you
get hurt or sick and realize you need long term health insurance
then it's too late to get coverage because no insurance company
will issue you a policy - at any price.
If you're currently a little older and you have other income
besides your Social Security benefits or Supplemental Security
Income (SSI) and you absolutely have no trouble paying for your
daily needs and all your monthly expenses then you should
definitely look into a long term care health insurance plan.
Once you make the decision to look into purchasing a long term
care health insurance plan you need to be aware that whatever
company you talk too will assess your health and you current
state of life before issuing you a policy. That will assess your
ability to handle the Activities of Daily Living (ADL).
These so-called Activities of Daily Living are activities like:
taking a bath, continence, dressing yourself, eating by
yourself, going to the toilet (without any help from others) and
getting yourself in and out of bed. If you can't most if not all
of these activities you change of getting approved and a policy
issued is greatly reduced.
On the other hand, different companies use different approval
criteria and there are different types of policies you can apply
for. Some policies are geared towards home health care or having
a personal home nurse while others are designed for care to be
received while staying in a long term care facility. You will be
given the option to choose the type of plan you would like when
you apply but like most things, you pay for what you get and
different plans come will different price tags. Just make sure
you thoroughly understand all your options first and if you feel
pressured and uncomfortable then politely move on to the next
company to apply.
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