Integrating Long Term Care Facts into Your Plan
Contrary to the opinion of others, long term care policies are not debatable because even those who say outright that they don’t need this type of insurance product think and feel otherwise. They are just too scared to face the reportedly high annual premiums of long term care insurance (LTCI) policies.
Truth is, not all annual premiums are unmanageable. Oftentimes, the ones that complain about the premium rates of LTCI policies are those who waited too long or to develop a health disorder before purchasing their policies. Either that or they did not study the literature of LTCI before investing their money into it.
Time and time again, we have been told that age is the number one determining factor of the price of an LTCI policy. Health comes second. So if you apply for a policy at the age of 75 and you are already showing symptoms of high blood pressure, there are only two things to expect – disapproved from the insurance firm or being subjected to a high annual premium.
Now if you’re wondering how some people were able to clinch a good deal despite their old age that’s because they’ve managed to maintain a good health. Each insurance company that sells LTCI policies has its own underwriters who decide whether or not to issue an LTCI policy to an applicant.
Most underwriters study the present mental health of an individual and if they show signs of dementia such as Alzheimer’s they could be subjected to a higher premium. Generally speaking, anyone with higher risk of needing care in the next five or 10 years will pay higher premiums.
So if you are planning to buy an LTCI policy for your future, do it now and lose nothing but chicken feed.
Offerings of Long Term Care Policies
If you’re a voracious reader and you’ve been keeping abreast of long term care articles and news that are relevant to the LTCI industry, don’t believe everything that you read. This won’t lead you to the policy that will fit your future health care needs.
Go out and check the cost of care in your area as this will produce better results. Unless you’re following the blog of a person who is on the receiving end of long term care (LTC), reading about this topic will only help you generate basic information such as the median annual cost of care in a specific region, different types of long term care settings, and the average length of stay of elderly people in nursing homes among many others.
Before you buy a policy, you have to discuss your present health condition with your doctor first and how your family’s health history can affect your future health. Once you’re done with this phase you will be able to identify the LTC setting which you will need in the future and then once you have an idea how much it will cost to acquire care from this specific setting, you can proceed with requesting LTCI quotes.
It won’t hurt to consider a few pieces of general LTC info and integrate these into your plan but the rule of thumb when looking at long term care policies is to identify your personal needs first before heeding other people’s recommendations.
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