Long-Term Care Insurance Comes Of Age

 With long-term care insurance policies, the costs of assisted living facilities, in-home care and private nursing homes are covered. And, in many cases, these policies offer inflation protection, too. But since not many eligible consumers are signing up for policies, the companies that offer them are trying to make them more palatable.

It is an unfortunate fact that healthcare costs are steadily rising and will only continue to rise in the foreseeable future. Accordingly, healthcare inflation must be considered when planning to protect your health, your family, and your financial well-being. One of the greatest threats is long-term care, especially as we age. For many, long-term care insurance is the best protection against long-term care poverty. Thankfully, as reported in a recent Reuters article, the long-term care insurance market is growing to accommodate the growing need and several new options are becoming available.

Granted, we don’t like thinking about growing old and frail, perhaps with dementia or Alzheimer’s to boot. It is easy to procrastinate. Besides, who wants to pay policy premiums. As a result, people who will need long-term care insurance protection later, unfortunately have not purchased policy protection now.

According to Matthew Sharpe of Genworth, “Long-term care is definitely under-penetrated, there’s no doubt about it. About 4 percent of the population that is eligible actually has a policy.” Because of this, Genworth and other companies are developing newer and easier tools for consumers to use, and that just might translate into newer and better policies for you to consider.

Whether any policy option is the right option for you depends on your unique circumstances. As pointed out in the original article, the strongest reason to secure a policy may be the possibility of dementia or Alzheimer’s. While there are many ideas presented in the Reuters article for your consideration, nothing can replace the advice and counsel of an experienced long-term care insurance agent to help you navigate your options.

Reference: Reuters (August 16, 2011) “Long-Term Care Insurance Gets a Makeover”