Medicare Supplement Insurance -- Part 3

Welcome back to the final post of this series on Medicare Supplements or Medigap Policies. In Part 1 we reviewed original Medicare, and in Part 2 we examined some of the general features of Medicare Supplements and the companies that offer them. Now let us turn to the plans themselves.

As we noted previously, there are currently 15 different plans to choose from; and they are designated with the letters A through L. The availability of these plans will vary from state to state and from company to company. However, all companies carrying any Medicare Supplements must carry Medicare Supplement A.

Medicare Supplement A is the basic supplement. It contains the core benefits that are also part of nearly all the other supplements, so it is worth taking a closer look at Supplement A in order to identify these core benefits. Medicare Supplement A pays for the following gaps in original Medicare:

1. Your first 3 pints of blood. Under original Medicare you pay 100% for these out of your own pocket.
2. Your co-pays for hospitalization between 60 days and 90 days. Under original Medicare you pay these co-pays each day you are in the hospital. Currently, the rate is $267 per day or more than $8,000 for the period; but the rate usually increases annually.
3. Your co-pays for hospitalization between 90 days and 150 days. Under original Medicare you pay these co-pays each day you are in the hospital. Currently, the rate is $534 per day or more than $32,000 for the period; but the rate usually increases annually. Also, please note that these are original Medicare's Lifetime Reserve Days, which means that you only get to use them once in your lifetime.
4. Your Part B co-insurance of 20% of Medicare's approved charges. Under original Medicare you pay this 20% of approved charges for any covered medical services received including outpatient treatment such as visiting your doctor.
5. 100% of your Part A hospitalization costs for an additional 365 Lifetime Reserve Days. Under original Medicare you pay 100% of these costs.

As you proceed further through the alphabet of Medicare Supplements, you will add to the benefits detailed above. For example, by the time you reach Medicare Supplement C you would have the following benefits in addition the the ones mentioned above:

1. Payment of the inpatient skilled nursing co-pays for days 21 through 100. Under original Medicare you pay these co-pays each day you are in a skilled nursing facility. Currently, the rate is $133.50 per day or more than $10,000 for the period; but the rate usually increases annually.
2. Payment of the Part A deductible. Under original Medicare you pay this deductible for any hospital stay between 1 and 60 days. Currently, the deductible is $1,068; but it usually increases annually. Additionally, due to Medicare's flexible benefit period you could pay this deductible up to 5 times per year. It is not an annual deductible.
3. Payment of the Part B deductible. Under original Medicare you pay this annual deductible for any covered medical services received including outpatient treatment such as visiting your doctor. Currently, the deductible is $135; but it usually increases annually.
4. Payment for foreign travel emergency. Under original Medicare you pay 100% of the costs for any emergency medical treatment that you may receive outside the United States of America. This Medicare Supplement C benefit will pay 80% up to 60 days of care after you pay a $250 deductible. However, there is a $50,000 lifetime limit to this benefit.

The next high-water mark is Medicare Supplement F. It covers all the core benefits of Supplement A and the additional benefits of Supplement C. To these it adds one more benefit -- 100% payment of Part B excess charges. At a glance this may seem a rather nominal difference from Supplement C. However, it carries more weight than it might appear because if you are billed excess charges; then under original Medicare you pay 100% of them. Please see Part 1 of this series for a more complete description and example of excess charges.

For a number of reasons, which no doubt include its excellent coverage (100% of Medicare approved charges plus 100% of excess charges plus foreign travel emergency), Medicare Supplement F has been popular. In fact, Supplement F has been so popular that there are currently 3 versions of it. The first is the standard version outlined above. The second is a high deductible version (Supplement J has a high deductible version as well.) that begins to cover expenses as outlined above only after you incur $2,000 in covered services. However, the third one is da bomb!

Medicare Supplement Innovative F is perhaps the most appropriately named of the supplements. In addition to providing the excellent coverage of the standard F, Medicare Supplement Innovative F pays 100% up to $800 per year for the following preventive benefits:

1. 100% up to $500 per year for preventive dental including oral exams once per 6 months, bite wing radiographs annually, complete series of panorex radiographs once per 3 years, dental prophylaxis once per 6 months, diagnostic casts once per 2 years, and extraoral radiographs twice per year.
2. 100% up to $100 for an annual physical exam.
3. 100% up to $100 for an annual vision exam.
4. 100% up to $100 for an annual hearing exam.
5. Free telephone access 24 hours per day and 7 days per week to a registered nurse by way of a nurse advice hot-line.

Of course, under original Medicare you pay 100% of the costs for any of the above services. There are only 2 disadvantages to Supplement Innovative F. The first is that in some states you may be required to pay a $5 co-pay for an office visit to a doctor. The second is that it can be hard to find an agent offering a Supplement Innovative F. Probably because it is one of the newer Medicare Supplements, it is not yet widely carried. However, I know of at least one nation-wide company that does carry it. If you would like more information, then please contact me. Although this blog is not for plugging insurance companies, I am always happy to provide whatever assistance I can to those searching for more information.

After Medicare Supplement Innovative F the benefits do not necessarily get more complete but rather emphasize particular areas. For instance, Supplement G offers less coverage than Supplement F (although the coverage is still very good) but has the advantage of $1,600 per year for at home recovery benefits. Medicare Supplement K, for another example, offers a significantly lower premium in exchange for increased cost-sharing in the skilled nursing, Part A deductible, and other co-insurances.

Hopefully, this post (as well as the series) will be helpful to you if you are trying to navigate the Medicare maze for yourself or for a loved-one. Please feel free to contact me if I may be of service to you. Unfortunately, it is difficult if not impossible to anticipate every question about Medicare Supplement Insurance, and post it in this blog; but I am available to answer more specific questions as they arise.

Medicare Supplement Insurance -- Part 2

In Part 1 of this series of posts we briefly reviewed original Medicare. In this post we will examine Medicare Supplement Insurance. Medicare Supplements or Medigap Policies are provided by private insurance companies and are designed to work with original Medicare. Therefore your first consideration should be to select a company because any policy is only as good as the company behind it. Existing customers are great sources of information about how well insurance companies are performing.

Another factor to consider is when the company was established. Of course, original Medicare did not begin until 1966; so you are not necessarily looking for a firm established a century ago. On the other hand, you probably don't want to find yourself being insured by an organization with less insurance experience than your grandchildren have life experience.

Especially in this economy, financial stability is important. Fortunately, there are agencies that do all the leg-work for you. Independent rating companies such as A.M. Best provide helpful ratings of many insurance companies' financial stability. Obviously, you don't want a policy from a company that cannot pay its claims. Finally, you should consider customer service. Even the best plans run into problems occasionally. Does the company offer live or automated customer service? Is there a local office? Do you have a local agent from that company?

On this note, I feel compelled to make a side-note regarding brokers. I know many people like working with brokers because they feel that a broker will get them the lowest premium for any particular type of plan. This is undoubtedly true in most cases. However, there is a downside to working with brokers; and that is customer service. Allow me to illustrate this point with my own personal dealings with a broker.

Many years ago my wife and I took out a life insurance policy with a friend, who also happens to be an independent and successful broker. Over the years due to various business interests our broker changed which companies he represents -- as is the way with nearly all brokers. Unfortunately, that left us without any local representation because, although the underwriting company is a large one, it now has no local agents, offices, or brokers in our area. Our friend, who was nearly as frustrated with the situation as we were, could only offer to change us to another life policy with a different company. All of this would have been avoided if my wife and I had done a little homework to see if the underwriting company had local agents or offices; but, alas, we were young and ignorant of such things at the time.

Now my situation is relatively benign even if annoying because it is life insurance, but imagine yourself in the same situation with your medical insurance. Perhaps you suffered a sudden stroke or accidental injuries. You are receiving daily mail and calls from the hospital about unpaid bills. When you call your insurance broker, are you going to be happy with a "Sorry to hear that. I stopped associating with that company years ago. (Didn't I mention it to you?) But, hey, I got this great new plan that you're gonna love?"

The bottom line is that brokers are paid to sell insurance -- period. Their independence disconnects them from the underwriting companies in a very real way. None of this is to say that brokers are bad people. On the contrary, the few I have met are helpful and kind persons. It's just that when you have a problem with your insurance, being able to speak to an agent of the company you are insured with or being able to visit a local office is definitely worth a couple extra bucks of premium. But I digress.

Medicare Supplement Policies are secondary coverage to Medicare Parts A & B. Depending on the supplemental plan you choose, it may pay

• Some or all of your deductibles and copayments.
• Some or all of your Medicare Part B excess charges.
• Emergency healthcare while traveling outside the U.S.

If you are enrolled in Medicare Parts A & B and continue to pay your Part B premium (which is currently $96.40 per month for most people), then you are eligible to enroll for a Medicare Supplement. Open enrollment begins with enrollment in Medicare Part B; however, you can switch or enroll in a Medicare Supplement without any medical underwriting up to six months before or up to six months after your enrollment in Medicare Part B. After that window of opportunity, you generally have to pass medical underwriting; so it is important to choose wisely when you have the chance, which brings us to the final and salient point of this post.

Currently, there are 15 Medicare Supplement plans to choose from designated Supplement A through Supplement L. Although 'A' through 'L' are only 12 letters, some plans have multiple versions such as High Deductible J or Innovative F. In the 1990s Medicare standardized all Medicare Supplements, which had two main effects on them.

The first is that all prescription drug coverage was removed from Medicare Supplements. This means that Medicare Supplements are strictly health care. Of course, you can still get prescription drug coverage via a stand-alone plan, which most serious Medicare Supplement companies offer to their customers.

The second main effect of standardization is that the benefits of each plan are exactly the same no matter what company offers the Medicare Supplement. This means that a G plan, for instance, will cover your medical costs in the same manner whether it's from Mega Insurance, Inc. or from Joe's Corner Insurance Shop.

Of course, there may be significant differences in other ways such as premiums, rate increases (How much, and how often?), is the policy guaranteed or collectively renewable. For example, a guaranteed renewable policy means that it cannot be terminated by the insurance company as long as you pay your premiums. It doesn't matter how old or sick you may become. Other renewing arrangements may leave the door open for the insurance company to cancel your policy.

There are a host of other factors to consider as well, but it is beyond the scope of this post to treat each one. I am happy to entertain questions; but your best option is to educate yourself the best you can, talk to existing customers whenever possible (especially those who have had to use their insurance), and talk to insurance agents.

Insurance agents -- especially ones dealing with Medicare -- had to study quite a bit and pass a fairly stringent exam to get their license. Additionally, they have continuing education requirements to maintain their license and are generally on the cusp of information about insurance in order to provide the best customer service possible and better compete. Stay tuned for Medicare Supplement Insurance -- Part 3 where the final installment of this series will examine specific Medicare Supplements and try to help you pick out the best one for you.

Long Term Care in New York Times

"My friend M. — you’ll understand in a moment why she’s terrified of my using her name — had to make a searing decision a year ago. She was married to a sweet, gentle man whom she loved, but who had become increasingly absent-minded. Finally, he was diagnosed with early-onset dementia.
The disease is degenerative, and he will become steadily less able to care for himself. At some point, as his medical needs multiply, he will probably need to be institutionalized.
The hospital arranged a conference call with a social worker, who outlined how the dementia and its financial toll on the family would progress, and then added, out of the blue: “Maybe you should divorce.”
“I was blown away,” M. told me. But, she said, the hospital staff members explained that they had seen it all before, many times. If M.’s husband required long-term care, the costs would be catastrophic even for a middle-class family with savings.
Eventually, after the expenses whittled away their combined assets, her husband could go on Medicaid — but by then their children’s nest egg would be gone, along with her 401(k) plan. She would face a bleak retirement with neither her husband nor her savings.
A complicating factor was that this was a second marriage. M.’s first husband had died, leaving an inheritance that he had intended for their children. She and her second husband had a prenuptial agreement, but that would not protect her assets from his medical expenses.
The hospital told M. not to waste time in dissolving the marriage. For five years after any divorce, her assets could be seized — precisely because the government knows that people sometimes divorce husbands or wives to escape their medical bills." -- excerpt from Until Medical Bills Do Us Part, Nicholas D. Kristof, The New York Times, 8/29/2009

Although Mr. Kristof confuses health care with long term care and therefore comes to a hopelessly flawed conclusion, his account of his friend's story does highlight the many difficulties faced by those needing long term care and their families. Unfortunately, the editorial utterly ignores the existence of Long Term Care Insurance, which would have protected his friend's assets, marriage, and dignity. For more about Long Term Care Insurance, please see the previous entries in this blog. Coming soon -- part 2 of Medicare Supplement Insurance.

Medicare Supplement Insurance -- Part 1

Medicare supplement insurance -- What is it? Who needs it? When are you eligible for it? Where is it available? Why would you choose it? How much is it? I will answer these and many other questions about Medicare supplement insurance; but, first, we need a basic understanding of Medicare.

Understanding the basics of Medicare requires answering four questions:

1. What does Medicare alone cover?
2. More importantly, what does it not cover?
3. What solutions are available?
4. How can Medicare supplement insurance fill your insurance needs?

Original Medicare is divided into two parts. Part A is hospital insurance and covers some of the costs associated with stays in a hospital or a skilled nursing facility. When you are hospitalized between 1 and 60 days you pay a deductible and then Medicare covers most other costs. Currently, the deductible is $1,068.00; but it usually increases every year. Additionally, this is not an annual deductible like most private health plans. Thanks to Medicare's rather unusual "flexible benefit period" you could very well find yourself paying your deductible up to five times a year.

When you are hospitalized between 61 and 90 days you pay a daily copayment and then Medicare covers most other costs. Currently, this copayment is $267.00 per day or as much as $8,010.00 for the period; but it usually increases every year. When you are hospitalized between 91 and 150 days you pay an even higher daily copayment and then Medicare covers most other costs. Currently, this higher copayment is $534.00 per day or as much as $32,040.00 for the period; but it, too, usually increases every year. When you are hospitalized for 151 or more days you pay all costs for each and every day and Medicare covers nothing.

Medicare will cover some of the costs for skilled nursing care if you meet the following requirements:

1. You are hospitalized for at least 3 days.
2. You enter a Medicare-approved facility within 30 days after your discharge from the hospital.
3. You are receiving skilled nursing care, which requires that you are measurably recovering.

Assuming you meet the above three requirements, when you enter a skilled nursing facility for between 1 and 20 days Medicare covers all eligible expenses. When you enter a skilled nursing facility for between 21 and 100 days you pay a daily copayment and then Medicare covers most other costs. Currently, the copayment is $133.50 per day or as much as $10,800.00 for the period; but it usually increases every year. When you enter a skilled nursing facility for 101 or more days you pay all costs for each and every day and Medicare covers nothing.

The second part of original Medicare is Part B. Part B is medical insurance and covers some of the costs associated with physician services, outpatient care, and tests and supplies. When you incur medical expenses you pay an annual deductible, which is currently $135.00, and usually 20% of the approved charges although there are some exceptions to this arrangement. For instance, when you incur expenses for blood transfusions you pay entirely for the first 3 pints and then 20% of the approved amount for any additional pints. Finally, you pay all excess charges if your healthcare provider does not accept assignment. Approved charges, excess charges, assignment? Perhaps an example would best clarify these terms and reveal how they could affect you.

Let's say your healthcare provider billed you $10,000.00 for medical services. Medicare has its own schedule of approved charges for the medical services that it covers. After reviewing the services that you received, let's say that Medicare approves $6,000.00. For simplicity's sake, let's say you previously payed your $135.00 annual deductible; so it is not a factor here. Also, let's assume that your medical services did not include blood or other exceptions to the usual 80% / 20% arrangement.

In this example $6,000.00 is the Medicare approved amount. Medicare will pay 80% of the $6,000.00 or $4,800.00. You will pay 20% of the $6,000.00 or $1,200.00. If your healthcare provider accepts assignment, then it agrees to ignore the remaining $4,000.00 originally billed. If your healthcare provider does not accept assignment, then according to Medicare it may bill you up to 15% of the total approved charges or $6,000.00 in this example. The 15% of the $6,000.00 or $900.00 is the excess charge in this example. Naturally, Medicare does not cover excess charges; so you pay the entire amount. This would almost double your bill from $1,200.00 to $2,100.00, which makes sense when you consider that you would be paying 35% of the approved charges instead of 20% of them.

Hopefully, you now have a basic understanding of original Medicare and are more aware of what it does and does not cover. Next time we will review Medicare supplement insurance to see how it fills the gaps in original Medicare and protects you from the many costs that original Medicare does not cover. As always, feel free to post or e-mail any comments or questions that you may have.

Is Your Emergency Fund Adequate?

Is your emergency fund adequate? Do you even have an emergency fund? Perhaps your emergency fund is adequate to pay your living expenses for a few months or replace a faulty water heater, but what if you had a major medical emergency?

If you think the most expensive thing that could happen to you is your funeral, then you need to think again. A critical illness such as cancer, stroke, or heart attack can make funeral expenses seem like chump-change. But wait! You have your health insurance, so you'll be fine -- right?

Of course, your health insurance will (hopefully) cover most of your medical expenses. However, those who have gone through a critical illness will testify that many of their costs were not covered because they were not strictly medical. Aside from deductibles and co-insurance, there is loss of income while you are not able to work, travel expenses to get to specialty treatment centers, and even hotel bills. In fact, one study revealed that 65% of cancer patients' expenses were not medical and therefore not covered by their health insurance.

The good news is that supplemental health plans that protect against such costs are readily available and inexpensive. For example, you would likely be able to give yourself or a loved one $10,000 worth of protection for approximately $3 to $30 per month depending on your or their age and the plan. Often you can select higher amounts of coverage such as $30,000 or $50,000.

Another great feature of these plans is that the underwriting is extremely simple. Generally speaking, if you have not already been diagnosed with cancer or a critical illness, then you are eligible for the coverage.

These plans generally pay the benefit amount directly to you upon first diagnosis of a critical illness so that you can use the funds as you see fit. This means you can use the money to pay deductibles, co-insurance, rent or mortgage, grocery bills, or for that exotic vacation you always wanted.

Finally, if you purchase such a plan on your own, then your coverage will be portable. If you change jobs or move, then you can keep your plans to supplement your new health insurance. Even if you are without conventional health insurance, these plans are an inexpensive way to protect yourself against the most expensive illnesses you are likely to experience.

Affordable Health Plans?

Affordable health plans? Is this an oxymoron? The answer to that question may surprise you. For years larger companies have been cutting back on employee benefits such as health care by seeking out plans with less coverage and by shifting more of the premium costs onto the employees. Small businesses have always struggled with this issue and frequently provide no health plan for either the employees or even the owners.

Whether you are employed in a small business, receiving (and paying for) COBRA, or are struggling to pay your ever-increasing part of the health plan provided by your employer, you are no doubt painfully aware of the high costs of maintaining your major medical insurance. For those paying the premiums the cost usually begins around $500 per month and can swell to $1,200 or more per month depending on the specifics of your coverage.

However, you have options other than major medical insurance. For instance, an individual could apply for a hospitalization plan for a monthly premium of about $70 to $300 depending on the specifics of his or her coverage. Usually, the deductible is around $500, which is far less than most major medical plans. Also, most hospitalization plans follow the 80% coverage and 20% coinsurance model that is common in major medical insurance.

Another advantage of many hospitalization plans is their portability. This is coverage you can take with you no matter what changes occur in your employment or residence. Generally, you can visit any hospital or doctor without worrying about referrals or networks. For most plans, the only limitation is regarding coverage outside the United States.

So what's the catch? There are basically two trade-offs between major medical insurance and individual hospitalization plans. The first is medical underwriting. If you are in a group health plan through your employer, then you should realize that you were not required to answer any medical questions to apply for coverage. Individual plans, whether major medical or hospitalization, require medical underwriting.

Of course, this means that not everyone can qualify for coverage. However, the absolutely salient point is that many people do. Unfortunately, it is beyond the scope of this post to review the medical questions for all the hospitalization plans available. But if you would like to find out if you qualify, then contact your health insurance agent and ask. If you live in the Carolinas, then feel free to e-mail me and we'll get together to review your situation.

The second trade-off is limits in coverage. For instance, many major medical plans will pay out life-time benefits up to $1 million or more. Most hospitalization plans limit coverage to a yearly amount such as $50,000 or $100,000. Others place a limit such as $50,000 or $100,000 for each injury or illness, which is obviously better coverage than a yearly limit.

For your information, studies have revealed that most people spend less than $5,000 per year for medical services (which is less than most major medical premiums) and only about 1% spend more than $50,000. For those spending more than $50,000, a large percentage are due to strokes, heart attacks, and cancer. The good news is that these and similar illnesses can be covered through extremely affordable (i.e. $3 -- $30 / mo.) health plan supplements -- more on those later.

In closing, here are a few tips. First, never cancel your existing insurance until your new plan is issued. This will usually occur between 2 to 4 weeks after you applied. Second, save yourself some money on the premiums by finding a flexible plan. This will allow you to get the coverage where you want it without a bunch of extra bells and whistles that you don't need to buy.

Third, make sure that your plan is guaranteed renewable. This means that your plan can never be cancelled (no matter how much you use it, your health conditions, or your age) as long as you pay the premiums. Fourth, try to find a policy that is age-issued. This means that you pay the rate for the your age when you first buy the plan. On these type of plans your rate will not increase because you get older.

Fifth, if at first you don't succeed; try, try again. All companies do not use the same underwriting. Even though you may not qualify with one insurer, you may with another. Finally, choose a company and an agent you are comfortable with. Ratings companies such as A.M. Best will tell you which companies are financially sound. As you meet with an agent, you will get a good idea of the agent's and the company's philosophy of customer service.

Choosing Long Term Care Insurance -- Part 2

In the last post we reviewed the basics of how most Long Term Care policies work and discovered how to select your level of coverage. In this post we will briefly visit some of the riders that are typically available and how they enhance the basic Long Term Care plan.

The first and most important rider you should consider is one for inflation protection. Generally, inflation protection comes in one of three forms -- future purchase options (FPOs), simple interest, or compound interest.

FPOs essentially guarantee you the right to purchase more Long Term Care coverage (usually by increasing the daily or monthly benefit a specified amount) down the road at specified intervals such as 5 or 10 years after the original plan was purchased. FPOs are attractive because they add little or no cost when the original plan is issued. However, they do have some disadvantages.

For one thing, FPOs are all or nothing. If you have the option to buy more coverage in 10 years, but you end up using the plan in 9 1/2 years; then you will most likely not be eligible to get more protection even though you will likely need it due to inflation. Also, if you decide not to purchase additional coverage at the FPO date (i.e. 10 years); then you will not usually still have that option at a later date (i.e. 12 years).

Secondly, FPOs tend not to keep up with inflation over the long run even for those who buy more coverage at every opportunity. This is because FPOs offer limited buying opportunities such as an additional $10,000 per year perhaps once in 5 or 10 years.

Lastly, in the long run FPOs often end up being more expensive than other forms of inflation protection because although you are guaranteed the right to purchase more coverage, the rates for that coverage will usually be based on your age at the FPO date and not the original plan's date.

The other common strategy to deal with inflation of Long Term Care costs is to add a rider that enables your benefit amount to accrue interest. Basically, there are two factors two consider: first, what is the rider's interest rate (typically 2% to 5%); and second, is the interest simple or compound.

Obviously, the higher the interest rate, the more coverage you will have available as time passes. Based on Long Term Care costs' past inflation rates, I would recommend that an interest rider's rate be approximately 5%. Although you might want to select a lower interest rate or no inflation protection at all depending individual factors such as your age or types of costs you are insuring against, you should be well informed about the risks you are assuming before doing this.

Simple or compound interest? Simple interest accrues only on the principle amount of the plan. For instance, if your plan gives you $100,000 of protection and you select a 5% simple interest rider, then you will accrue $5,000 more protection (5% of $100,000) each and every year no matter what your accumulated total is.

On the positive side, simple interest riders are usually less expensive than compound ones and the amount of protection they give generally keeps up with inflation for the first few years. However, over time simple interest riders tend to lag behind the inflation in costs because this inflation is compound in nature.

True inflation is compound, and for this reason a compound interest rider is the only true form of protection against inflation in the long run. A 5% compound interest rider on $100,000 would give 5% more protection on the accumulated total each year. This means that there is no difference in the protection afforded between simple and compound plans after the first year, but for each successive year the compound plan will grow increasingly greater than the simple plan.

Many people believe that inflation protection is unnecessary. However, you should keep in mind that today's Long Term Care costs of about $160 per day are likely to amount to approximately $650 per day in 30 years. If you do not want to pay for the relatively inexpensive inflation rider now, you may find yourself paying a whole lot more later to make up the difference between what your plan pays and what your actual expenses are.

Another feature or rider on many Long Term Care plans is waiver of premium. This means that your premium may stop during a claim. Although there may be a fairly brief waiting period such as 90 days, the general benefit is that while your plan is paying for your Long Term Care costs you are not having to pay your premiums. This feature or rider will free up more money for you while you receive Long Term Care.

Another feature or rider of most plans is the types of care the insurance covers. You want a plan that covers as much as possible. For instance, you should make sure that your policy pays for care not only at nursing homes but also at assisted living facilities, adult day care, home health care, and respite care. This feature permits you and your loved-ones the most choices for your care and will maintain your coverage if your needs change.

Additionally, you should try to secure a plan that includes an alternate plan of care provision so that it will cover innovations in Long Term Care that may not be specifically listed in your policy. Also, you may want to consider a plan that includes a bed reservation feature so that you will not loose your nursing home bed if you leave the home to visit family or for a hospital stay. Finally, you should select a plan that is guaranteed renewable. This means that your plan can never be cancelled no matter your age or your use of the insurance as long as you pay the premiums.