Long term care insurance
From ArticleWorld
Long term care insurance may be defined as an insurance coverage that, under specified conditions, provides skilled nursing, intermediate care, or custodial care for a patient (generally aged over 65) in a nursing facility or his or her residence following an injury. Long term care insurance works well for those people who are not actually ill but need help in the day to day activities, which they might find too strenuous to do on their own. This kind of insurance is not covered under the general health insurance but there are few options of federal aid available to those who cannot afford to pay on their own.
Why long term care
As people grow old they may be beset by many diseases but not all of them require hospitalization. Diseases like dementia and Alzheimer’s are extremely debilitating but neither requires medication and care that only hospitalization may provide. For such old people who need continuous help with day to day activities but no special medication and care, a long term nurse or companion is a good option. This way the old people do not need to feel that they are being a burden on their children or other family members and the long term insurance provides the money required for the care and medication without any extra expense. Again, the long term care insurance is also makes the insurer eligible for deduction from income tax resulting in extra savings.
Kinds of long term care insurance policies
There are basically two types of long term policies available to consumers. One is the non-taxable kind (which is not so prevalent) in which a doctor provides evidence or a clear statement that the patient needs help and the policy is required to pay for it.
The other more common kind (favored for its friendly tax deduction scheme) is the tax qualified long term care policy. In this a doctor’s statement is not needed but the patients must prove that they need day to day care for not less than three months for at least two every day activities (bathing, eating etc).