Which Is The Best Long Term Care Insurance?

  1. 870 POINTS
    William Bridgers
    Specialist, LTCi, DI, Annuities, Life, Designs In Life, LLC, Utah
    The bottom-line response to this question is "the long-term care insurance that is in force when you are no longer able to take care of 2 of 6 activities of daily living or are diagnosed with an organic cognitive impairment like Alzheimer's disease." However, the question is an important one and deserves elaboration.The consumer ultimately has to decide what the best long-term care insurance is for them.  That requires a sometimes annoying learning curve to find out how the policy works, what the benefits, features, and riders are, and whether one can afford to purchase any kind of long-term care insurance at all.Long-term care insurance is complicated because the issue it addresses is complicated.  The risk is that one has about a 1 in 6 chance of needing the help of someone else to bathe, dress, get to a restroom (in time), move from one place to another, be able to eat and/or drink food sufficient for one's well-being, take Rx medication in the proper dosage at the proper time among other basic daily activities over an extended period of time.  These "ADLs" or, activities of daily living, are formally defined in a long-term care insurance policy.Clearly, there is a lot of subjective judgment regarding these ADLs and people are often skeptical about who will have the ultimate decision for eligibility to go on claim.  Therefore, obtain a "specimen policy" from your agent and read it over carefully because that is what you are considering buying - not glossy marketing materials, not agent summaries and simplifications, and certainly not the illustration that might be initially provided for discussion purposes.  The insurance contract is a legal document and constitutes the promise of the carrier to the policyowner.  If you don't understand how it works, and you don't get satisfactory and intelligible explanations from an insurance professional - either the agent, or a carrier representative at the insurance company's home office - don't buy it.  Here are some general guidelines of the best long-term care policy as represented by contract language: 1. The definitions section is easy to understand and written in language that does not use technical jargon; 2. The section on claims clearly indicates how one can receive benefits3.  There are specifically stated services that the carrier provides at the time of claim to help the insured find qualified and/or skilled nurses for home care and quality-rated facilities should full 24/7 care be needed.  This section of the document must include the words "care coordinator" and "plan of care".4.  Customer service contact information is prominently displayed in bold type in a font large enough to be easily read by the elderly and is found in several locations in the policy.5.  Contract language allows for the possibility of medical and technical advances in care and medicine for coverage, even though it does not now exist or is not definable at this time.6.  Exclusions are concise and easily understood.The best long-term care insurance is the kind that you understand.  It takes a while to figure it out, but this type of insurance could be the difference in your dying alone with no (or poor) care while still alive, or dying with dignity with quality care from people that know what they are doing and have the certification and skills to treat you.  Take the time and make the effort to be an informed applicant.
    Answered on July 2, 2013
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  2. 63333 POINTS
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    Peggy Mace
    Most of the U.S.
    There is no one best Long Term Care Insurance policy. A feature that I think makes a good LTCI policy is the ability to use the benefit for any level of care, even able to use the benefit to pay a family member to care for you. The best policy will have a cost of living increase applied to the benefit, although not everyone can afford that feature. The best long term care insurance will come from a solid company with a history of few rate increases.
    Answered on September 15, 2013
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