This week and next, I’m presenting a guest blog from Brian Allred, who specializes in long-term care insurance. In Part 1, Brian lays out the factors for Baby Boomers and seniors to take into account when considering this important type of insurance policy .
Long-Term Care insurance Solutions: Where to start. Part 1
Chances are you know someone who has needed help getting along in life. Even if you haven’t known someone to need care, there is a good chance you might in the near future. According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, “70% of people turning age 65 can expect to use some form of long-term care during their lives.”
Contributing factors are age, gender, disability, health status and living arrangements. Of course we can all agree that as we age, we have a higher likelihood of needing care. There are seven determining factors that are used to gauge if someone needs care. You may have heard of them: “ADL’s,” or activities of daily living. The list includes: eating, bathing, dressing, toileting, transferring, and continence. An additional ADL taken into account for long-term care would be mental or cognitive conditions.
When a person needs help with two of the first six, or one cognitive condition, he or she would be eligible to receive benefits from a long-term care plan.
We’ll take a look at the additional factors contributing to a person’s need for care in future issues.
If you or a friend are concerned about long-term care, here are a few things to know when searching for a plan.
First, determine if this type of coverage is even right for you. I help my clients by walking through the “facts and figures” of long-term care. Men and women have different reasons that motivate them to buy a plan. I recommend thinking about what your life would be like if a person, spouse or loved one, needed help with ADL’s. What would it be like to help her or him out of bed daily? Or needing help showering… Is that a task that might affect the spouse or child?
Finding the need and motivation to commit to this type of a plan should be strong. This is different than home insurance, there isn’t a mortgage company requiring a person to own the plan. Long-term care plans are often purchased years, even decades in advance. Committing to paying the premium for 20 years should be considered.
In Part 2, we’ll discuss additional points that can help a person to start the process of finding right plan.
Brian Allred, Long-term Care Insurance Specialist
CA Lic: 0E15853
(951) 901-0866
brian@theallredagency.com
www.briankallred.com