What is Long Term Care Insurance?
Long Term Care Insurance (LTC or LTCi) helps provide for the cost of long term care beyond a predetermined period. Long term care insurance covers in-home care and community-based care which is generally not paid for by health insurance, Medicare, or Medicaid. These individuals require long-term home care and are unable to perform the basic activities of daily living (ADLs) including bathing, dressing, eating, continence, toileting and ambulation.
What Long Term Care Insurance Is NOT
Long term care insurance is NOT medical insurance or disability insurance. It is NOT insurance that you can purchase when you need it. It is NOT insurance to pay for:
- Care in a hospital, clinic or doctor’s office
- Getting well after sickness or injury
- Rehabilitation after an accident or surgery
Long term care insurance can only be purchased when you are relatively healthy and NOT in need of care.
What Is Long Term Care Insurance For?
Knowing what long term care insurance is NOT helps in understand what it is and when it can be used. Long term care insurance is there to help you live as independently as possible when you have a chronic condition the is not covered by your medical insurance and from which you are not likely to get better in the near future.
Many people think that long term care insurance can only be used to pay for nursing home care. That is not true in most cases. Unless it is a very old policy, all long term care policies pay for care in your own home or a long term care facility.
How To Qualify To Use Long Term Care Insurance
Long term care insurance can only be used when you, the insured person, can no longer perform for yourself activities of daily living (ADLs). If you cannot provide basic care for yourself due to chronic illness, injury, disability or simply the effects of advancing age, you may be able to utilize your long term insurance policy. ADLs are those activities we all must do on a daily basis, such as:
- Bathing
- Toileting
- Grooming
- Eating
- Walking
- Getting out of a chair or bed
Your Trusted Source for Long Term Care Insurance Assistance and Advise
In addition to basic ADLs, you can qualify to use most policies if the insured has some form of dementia, such as Alzheimer’s disease.
LTC@Home specializes in assessing needs and getting clients qualified to use their long term care insurance. We can help you too.