Long Term Care

Long Term Care is a general term covering a wide range of services addressing the health, medical, personal care & social needs of people with chronic or prolonged illnesses, disabilities, & cognitive disorders (such as Alzheimer’s). Most typically required by the elderly they may also be used by disabled people of any age. Coverage may include nursing home care but also private & semi-private care situations & services such as home health care, assisted living, adult day care, adult family homes, continuing care retirement communities, rehabilitation therapy, respite care & more. Long-Term Care insurance is gaining importance among baby boomers as an option to meet future health expenses not covered by traditional health insurance.

• What Does It Cover? Most major medical health insurance policies do not cover long-term care expenses, nor does Medicare or Medicare Supplement insurance. Long-term care insurance is about the only option that allows people to protect their assets & retain more control over their health-care decisions in this late-life situations. Those who do not have this preparation often have few alternatives but to spend down their assets until they qualify for Medicaid.
• Activities Of Daily Living: Traditional health insurance & Medicare cover acute care & certain preventative measures. Long-term care coverage, on the other hand, addresses Activities of Daily Living (ADL). Activities of Daily Living include bathing, controlling bladder and bowel functions, using the toilet, eating, & moving in & out of a chair or bed. It is the inability to handle these once routine circumstances that afflicts people in different degrees as they age. But no one person’s experience is identical to another’s. Long-term care insurance is flexible. It is constructed to cover not just the costs of nursing home stays but a wide range of home health care, assisted living, & personal services. A good long-term care policy will meet your changing needs.