Long Term-Care; 70 Million Americans Will Be Over 65 by 2003

We will all grow old; this is a given. We will all have health issues as we grow older, this also is a given. Many people work their whole lives and if they are smart end up with a paid for house and a little nest egg for retirement. This is a good 15% of the population. Good for us as we have a strong middle-class. But whether you are rich or poor there will come a time when you need long-term care. As a matter of fact statistics show tat 10% of use will need long-term care for 3-5 years.

The problem is that such care costs a good $135.00 per day now, not including any future inflation. So something you should be thinking about is; do you have adequate coverage to protect you life’s earnings, home and nest egg in the case you are somewhat incapacitated and need home long-term care? Many financial planners are recommending insurance for this; as a matter of fact currently it is all the rage.

When shopping for such long-term care insurance there are things you need to look for besides your basic costs of premiums and general services. Things such as an inflation rider to protect you; also a non-forfeiture rider should be in the policy. The non-forfeiture rider prevents the insurance company from completely canceling your policy if you miss premiums; instead you will get less services or care, but not loss of all benefits. There are also in some policies provisions for limiting premium increases. Insurers cannot raise an individual’s premiums but they are allowed to raise premiums for an entire class or category of folks. You need to make sure this will not happen and look for this in your policy.

Guaranteed Renewability is another provision you need to have; meaning they cannot cancel or refuse to renew your policy as you reach and older age of higher risk.

There are over 100 companies, which offer these types of insurance policies but only about 15 or so are any good. Other companies like some abuses in the Insurance Annuity Business may simply collect lots of premiums and then go out of business in the future, leaving you high and dry after taking your premiums. Please be careful and think about this.