Saturday, August 8, 2009

Long-Term Care Insurance Can Offer You Peace Of Mind

By Jillian Leigh

None of us wants to think of becoming incapacitated and needing long term care. But it happens. If you are part of a married couple, you have a seventy percent chance of one of you needing long-term care. If you are single, you stand a 40 p.c chance. These percentages are bound to increase as baby boomers begin to age.

Long term care insurance can provide you with a confidence. Like medical insurance, long term care insurance works to pay advantages to long term care facilities. They'll cover what Medicare and other insurance won't and let you retain your savings.

Most of us do not plan for long-term care and by the point we need it, it is too late. We cannot count on our children being in a position to care for us. With so many folks living well into their 80s and 90s, it is very likely the'children' who are to worry for them are of retirement age themselves. This can be too much of a burden for an older person to take, irrespective of how much they need to help.

As you have worked and saved all your life, you most likely wish to be ready to leave something to your children when you pass on. You do not wish to end the last of your days on public aid, in a long term care facility that is too far away for your youngsters to go to. But that's what happens to people all of the time.

The way that long term care works is that you have to sign over all of your assets when you enter with an irreversible condition. When they are used up, you then go on public help. There is no guarantee that the nursing facility will keep you once you're a ward of the state. They can then transfer you to another facility that might be much further away.

You cannot count on Medicare to pay for your care. They will pay a fragment of what it will cost to look after you. And do you actually want your children or family and friends emptying their bank accounts to pay for your care?

If you plan ahead and get a long-term care health insurance program, you can be covered. These policies will pay $150 a day for your care for a four year period. You may use the money when and if you want it. You can also get an inflation clause in your policy so that the $150 that is good for today will cover what it costs 20 years from now.

The amount you will have to pay for a long-term care insurance policy will depend on certain conditions like your age and general state of health. But planning ahead for this type of care is essential if you'd like confidence and don't need to worry about changing into a burden on your family and friends as you age.

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