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What Is Long Term Care?

Long Term Care
We will explain what long-term care is, why it is important, and highlight key concepts to keep in mind when reviewing coverage options.

Long-term care is a set of services designed to help you do daily tasks that you may not be able to complete on your own. These services can help you meet basic personal care needs, such as eating or bathing. Your care can be done at home, with a certified nurse, in an assisted living facility, or in a full nursing home.

In general, long-term care services can be expensive and not covered by health insurance plans. You may risk consuming your personal savings while receiving long-term care.

If you are concerned about managing the cost of long-term care, there are several options that can help you pay for your care.

medicaid

Medicaid is a government program that provides financial assistance to people with low incomes and limited resources to help cover the costs of medical care. However, to get Medicaid, you must meet certain requirements. For example, Medicaid providers generally must have exhausted most of their savings before receiving coverage. For those eligible, Medicaid will generally cover 100% of the costs of long-term care.

Long-term care insurance

Long-term care policies can provide assistance to help offset the cost of long-term care. These policies can help protect your personal savings and belongings from exhaustion due to the extended costs of long-term care.

There are two main options for long-term care insurance: conventional long-term care insurance and mixed insurance.

Traditional long-term care insurance

With traditional long-term care insurance, you have the flexibility to customize your policy to meet your needs. For example, you can choose the exact amount of coverage you want. You can also specify when and how long you want your benefits to start. This makes traditional long-term care insurance one of the most effective ways to get the most coverage for your paid premiums.

You generally pay a lifetime annuity, although the premium payment period may be shorter. Also, insurance premiums cannot be guaranteed intact and may increase after purchase.

If you cancel your policy or end without using long-term care services, you generally will not receive refunds of your premiums or any cash value.

Hybrid insurance

Hybrid insurance combines long-term care insurance with life or annuity insurance. In the event that you do not use long-term care services, beneficiaries will receive compensation for death or payments.

Also, mixed insurance policies often provide a surrender value, a cash payment that is paid to you if you choose to cancel the policy.

These policies are generally one-time installments or flexible payment installments for a certain number of years.
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