Long Term Care Coverage

Long-Term Care Coverage

Choosing whether or not to purchase long-term care insurance is one of the most important retirement planning decisions we will make. Despite the likelihood of long-term care expenses on the horizon, most of us do not have long-term care insurance.

So, what deters us from purchasing long-term care insurance? Here are the two most common reasons: First, we think it’s too expensive. Second, we don’t want to pay for something we may never use.

Because most of us do not have long-term care insurance, the government continues to pay a significant portion of the long-term care costs in our nation. Consequently, policymakers are highly motivated to find ways to encourage us to cover our own long-term care expenses; hence, the creation of [a new type of long-term care insurance by way of] two pieces of legislation—HIPPA of 1996 and the Pension Protection Act of 2006. Sections of this new legislation define new long-term care insurance solutions available since January 2010. When compared with traditional long-term care insurance policies, these groundbreaking products are a practical way to transfer some of the risk of long-term care expenses to insurance companies.

What are these new long-term care insurance products? In short, they are a new type of life insurance that allows the insured or insureds to access the life insurance death benefit—while they are alive—to pay for long term care…and in most cases, income tax free. Any of the death benefit that is not used for long-term care expenses will still be paid to beneficiaries as a tax-free death benefit.

In addition, many of these new linked-benefit long-term care policies offer a feature that potentially could pay out double or triple the death benefit for long-term care.

Whether you have recently purchased long-term care insurance, are considering investigating long-term care insurance options, are interested in possibly buying long-term care insurance, or have even determined that long-term care is not for you, you may want to take the time to learn more about these amazing insurance products and how they could help you be better prepared for the long-term care expenses you will likely incur during your lifetime.