Long-term care insurance policies have a variety of features and it pays to shop around. It is quite easy in the final years of your life to run up extremely large care bills which could threaten your life savings, home and your childrens inheritance. Okay some people do not care about their offspring so much as is evident by looking at the bumper stickers of the deluxe Recreational Vehicle Motor Homes; we are spending our childrens inheritance! You need to ask yourself not only; How much long-term care insurance should I buy? You need to think on how much you might potentially need. For instance you need a policy, which has an adequate daily allowance. The current average for in home nursing is $135.00 per day. But the norm for coverage ranges between $100 and $150.00 per day. The waiting and elimination periods also can greatly affect the policy costs and premiums. People usually wait 30, 60, 90 days, as medicare usually pays in the beginning. You will have a slight duplication of coverage. The waiting period concerns the amount of time before you can begin receiving coverage. These are significant factors indeed. Benefit triggers are also important in these policies. They usually occur when you need assistance with two or three daily living activities such as using the bathroom, getting dressed, taking a shower or eating. Generally benefits are triggered when a doctor has certified you that you in fact need this assistance to function in these daily living necessities. Benefit or payment stoppages are also crucial which often occur when you are over a severe illness or become a cancer survivor, as is now the norm. Or when you leave a nursing facility and go home. Many good policies remain activated for another ten days to insure you can function again at home if needed. Many policies have a provision which allows you to stop paying premiums once you begin benefit coverage, but not all and some require you to start paying again once you are out of the care facility or you no longer need in home care for your daily living activities. Most importantly do not buy coverage if you feel pressured, think about it first. |
