WHAT’S NEW in Long Term Care Insurance? |
| Return of Premium: |
| This option serves to guarantee to you that all premiums paid will either be used for a claim or returned to your estate. |
| Survivorship: |
| Under certain conditions, your policy becomes paid-up for life at your spouse's death. For example: a recent widow readjusting her budget to cope with the loss of her spouse's income would no longer need to pay for her own LTC insurance premium. |
| Paid-Up Policy |
| There are two popular choices available: pay premiums to age 65 or pay premiums for only 10 years. |
| Cash Benefits: |
This rider pays the full daily benefit amount every day a covered
service is received, regardless of the cost of that service. Since you can use the benefit for any purpose, you could use it to pay for a professional provider or a family member to care for you. |
| International Coverage: |
| It allows for benefits to be paid for care outside the United States. Limitations and restrictions to international coverage vary widely between carriers. We can help you determine the best policy for your needs. |
| Tax Advantages |
| The federal government provides a tax deduction for qualified policies. Many states provide either a tax credit or a tax deduction for buying long term care insurance. Ask us for details. |
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| What’s New from the Government? |
| The federal government as an employer made LTCi policies available to its employees in 2002. However, even if you were eligible for a federal policy, you may wish to compare it with other policies. There are significant spousal discounts and health discounts available in many other policies issued directly from insurers which are not available through the federal program. Also, the federal progam does not offer simple inflation, which would benefit those over age 70. And, home health care is only 75% of the daily benefit amount with the federal program. Many people prefer at least 100% because that is the most important part of the policy for them. |
| Partnership Programs |
| A government program that is being considered by many states is called a “Partnership Program.” There are several states that currently have these plans in-force: California, Connecticut, Indiana and New York. These partnerships are between insurance carriers and the individual states. Essentially, as long as the state resident has a specified, limited LTCi policy in-force, any long term care expense incurred after the policy has been exhausted will be covered by that state’s Medicaid program without the resident first having to spend down their assets to qualify. Federal funding for this state program can only work by using a waiver from the federal Medicaid program which has currently stopped allowing any new partnership programs. |
| Own Your Future |
| Finally, a new consumer awareness pilot program called “Own Your Future” was just initiated. It is a joint Federal and state program that mails an educational booklet and a CD designed to guide the residents of Virginia, New Jersey, Arkansas, Nevada and Idaho on how to plan for and deal with LTC. For more information see www.ltcaware.info . |
