Things to Ponder in Buying Long Term Care Insurance
Things to Ponder in Buying Long Term Care Insurance
Long term care insurance provides significant protection when the extent of disability or mere frailty curbs a person's ability of performing daily activities. There are number of pros and cons attached to long term care insurance; however, it is reasonable to secure meaningful golden years rather than suffer the burdening costs of LTC that can affect not just you but your family most of the time.
There are lots of things you have to know before getting an LTCi. Here are some important facts than can guide you through LTC insurance:
Can Everyone Qualify for Long Term Care Insurance?
Well, the answer is NO. Although insurance companies have different qualification standards, most of these insurers accept only those who are reasonably healthy. The following are circumstances that will most likely affect your policy or, worse, get denied from obtaining a coverage:
If you currently use long term care services
If you have AIDS or other related sexually transmitted disease
If you have existing or family history of mental and cognitive disorder such as Alzheimer's or dementia
If you have had a stroke in the past 12 to 24 months or multiple Transient Ischemic Attacks
If you have metastatic cancer
Some health conditions will be evaluated by the insurer. There might be few companies that allow coverage for people with the abovementioned medical conditions, but they are rare and the premiums are much higher. Once you passed the underwriting and qualified for coverage, your coverage cannot be forfeited or cancelled unless the insurer decided to take necessary actions when triggered with the policyholder's failure of paying overdue premiums.
Special Features for Consumer Protection
All long term care insurance policies must contain special features as set forth by the state government to protect consumers. The following features shall apply in every LTC policy:
The policy must be guaranteed renewable, which means the insurer has no right to cancel a coverage for any reason, unless the policyholder stops paying the premiums.
There must be 30 days of free look period that allows the consumer to return the policy and get the full refund
You can authorize another person to receive notice on payments due or missed so you won't skip any payments
You are given 65 grace period to pay overdue premiums
If you have skipped paying premiums due to disability, you may recover the coverage within five months of the missed premium date
If you wish to leave your employer or an association where a group policy is purchased, you can still continue the coverage without changing the policy
A spouse that is insured under a group policy may keep the coverage even after a divorce
Many states these days implement stringent rules to prevent insurance companies from unreasonable rate increase to protect consumers. The rate hikes must be approved by the State Department of Insurance
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