Page 21 - Growing Old Without a Plan for Long Term Care is not for Sissies_Neat

Questions, Questions! 3 family members paying for your care. f Rely on government programs like Medicaid. f Purchase Long Term Care Insurance that will pay for part or all of your care when you need it. There are advantages and disadvantages of each of these options and each should be given serious consideration. Unfor- tunately, most people don’t give consideration to any of them. They choose option 1 or 2 by default without understanding the consequences of doing so. There is nothing wrong with option 1 or 2 if they are the right choices for you. But it’s important to consciously choose those options and prepare your plan accordingly instead of choosing them by default without examining the consequences. Long Term Care Insurance is not the right choice for everyone, but everyone should explore and consider it before rejecting it. By reading this book, you have indicated your intent to look at all your options carefully and I congratulate you for doing so! What is Long Term Care Insurance? A Long Term Care Insurance policy is designed to pay for a need for healthcare or assistance that is expected to last 90 days or longer. Policies vary in what services they pay for but most policies purchased today pay for services provided in your home, in an assisted living facility and in a nursing home, along with other services such as adult day care. Long Term Care Insurance policies do not pay for these services until it has been deter- mined by a medical professional that you need assistance with two or more activities of daily living (eating, dressing, bathing, transferring, toileting, incontinence) or you have developed a cognitive impairment that causes you to require care.