About Long-term Care Insurance

As Medicare does not cover long-term care stays in a nursing home and does not cover home care, individuals must privately pay for their own care needs. If someone has nearly no assets (less than $2,000.00 in most states), they may qualify for Medicaid coverage which will pay for a nursing home stay — however, your choices become limited once you are a Medicaid recipient. Learn more about Medicare and Medicaid coverage. Another option is purchasing a long-term care insurance policy.

What is Long-term Care?

Long-term care is considered any type of support or care you may need over an extended period of time. Most insurance companies consider long-term care to be more than a one-month period and their policies will not begin until one month of care has been fulfilled (some policies will pay you back for the first month of care and some will not).

Long-term care needs include personal care such as bathing and dressing, meal preparation, medication monitoring, assistance with walking and exercises, house cleaning, laundry, and escorting to doctor's appointments and running errands.

As medical care has advanced, we are able to assist individuals to recover from conditions such as strokes, heart attacks, and cancer. Recovery from these illnesses may require one to two years. In addition, some age-related diseases such as Parkinson's Disease, Alzheimer's Disease, and other types of memory loss may progress over several years. In these circumstances, the costs for hourly or live-in care can easily reach $100,000.00 per year or more.

It is estimated that after the age of 65, most people will need at least 1 year of care, and 50% of people in nursing homes stay for an average of 2.9 years.

Long-term Care Insurance Policies may be purchased in a variety of forms. Typical policies will cover from $50 to $150 of care per day in either the home or in a nursing home. Benefit periods typically range from 2 years to a lifetime.

Long-term Care Insurance Policies vary in the requirements for home health care. Some will reimburse for anyone providing the care (family member or privately hired aide) and others will require care in the home to be provided by a licensed Senior Home Care Agency.