Around half of adults over the age of 65 will at some point require long-term care. Despite this great need, many adults in this age bracket do not have life long-term care insurance.
Perhaps these adults underestimate their risk of requiring long-term care in the future, or perhaps they underestimate the cost of long-term care facilities. The average assisted living facility costs around four grand a month. That price more than doubles for skilled nursing facilities. With prices like that, it’s easy to see how helpful insurance can be.
Some people mistakenly believe that their long-term care will be covered by Medicare or Medicaid. This may not be the case. Medicare does not cover long-term care unless there are very specific circumstances, and even then the coverage is for a limited amount of time. And while Medicaid does pay for long-term care, there is strict criteria to qualify for coverage.
That said, many adults do know the potential costs of long-term care homes and still refuse long-term-care insurance policies due to their high premiums and risky nature. With traditional long-term care coverage, if you do not wind up using the benefits, you will lose them.
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As the name implies, those who need extensive medical care for a long period of time are considered to require long-term care. Long-term care can be offered at home through home modifications and/or hired at-home caregivers, or at a facility that offers around-the-clock care.
If a person cannot perform two or more of the following daily life activities on their own, they are in need of long-term care:In a lot of ways, hybrid policies are a better financial decision since you will receive a benefit no matter what, and you can receive two types of coverage. However, combining life and long-term care insurance is more expensive than either of the policies on their own. So if your main concern is receiving coverage for long-term care, then going with a singular long-term care policy is a better option for you.
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Margaret Huntley Margaret Huntley is a creative writing and philosophy student at Western University. She has been working as a freelance writer for over two years and has written about everything from insurance, to poker, to health and wellness for international businesses.
