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Long Term Care Health Insurance - A Closer Look
By: Kevin Erickson
Kids today face an ever growing number of temptations ranging from drinking and
smoking, drugs, gambling and pre-martial sex. Unfortunately, due to their youth
and inexperience they fail to realize that what they do in their youth can have
a great effect on their quality of life as they grow older.
On the other hand, as people grow older and approach retirement age they begin
to realize that the carelessness of their youth did have a profound effect on
the quality of their life but now they are ready to do whatever it takes to
remove as much risk as they can. As a result, an ever increasing trend has been
the purchasing of long term care health insurance as one way of reducing the
financial risk a prolonged illness poses.
Long term health insurance is one the best ways to reduce whatever fears you may
have in terms of how you'll be able to take care of your health after (and in
some cases at a much younger age if you are the victim of an untimely accident)
retirement as well as ensure your family (your spouse, children and even your
grandchildren) that they won't get saddled with the potentially huge amount of
debt that can result from the high-cost of medical care. Long term care health
insurance is one of the best ways to guarantee that not only will you receive
higher quality care but that you won't lose a lifetime worth of savings in the
process.
Because health care costs continue to rise at dramatic rates nearly every year,
it's becoming increasing advisable to begin coverage much earlier in life.
Traditionally, individuals wouldn't even consider long term care until nearing
retirement or even until after retirement but you may want to reconsider your
thinking if that's been your plan. A few big reasons you may want to consider
looking into long term care health insurance as early as your mid 50's are
premiums and approval. Policies taken out when someone is in their early 50's
(this is still seen as a favorable age group ) is much less expensive then one
initiated in their early to mid 60's and the older you get the higher the
premiums.
However, if you take out a policy when you are younger you will continue to pay
the same premium even as you get older. Sure, you may pay for 10, 15 or 20 years
before you need it but when you do need it you'll have much better coverage.
Another big reason you may want to consider taking out a policy earlier in life
is that you greatly increase your odds of getting approved with no riders or
other exclusions. Once you get hurt or sick and realize you need long term
health insurance then it's too late to get coverage because no insurance company
will issue you a policy - at any price.
If you're currently a little older and you have other income besides your Social
Security benefits or Supplemental Security Income (SSI) and you absolutely have
no trouble paying for your daily needs and all your monthly expenses then you
should definitely look into a long term care health insurance plan.
Once you make the decision to look into purchasing a long term care health
insurance plan you need to be aware that whatever company you talk too will
assess your health and you current state of life before issuing you a policy.
That will assess your ability to handle the Activities of Daily Living (ADL).
These so-called Activities of Daily Living are activities like: taking a bath,
continence, dressing yourself, eating by yourself, going to the toilet (without
any help from others) and getting yourself in and out of bed. If you can't most
if not all of these activities you change of getting approved and a policy
issued is greatly reduced.
On the other hand, different companies use different approval criteria and there
are different types of policies you can apply for. Some policies are geared
towards home health care or having a personal home nurse while others are
designed for care to be received while staying in a long term care facility. You
will be given the option to choose the type of plan you would like when you
apply but like most things, you pay for what you get and different plans come
will different price tags. Just make sure you thoroughly understand all your
options first and if you feel pressured and uncomfortable then politely move on
to the next company to apply.
This article may be reproduced only in its entirety.
About the Author:
Kevin Erickson is an entrepreneur and writer. For more of his articles visit:
Long Term Care Insurance | Short Term Health Insurance | Social Anxiety Disorder
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