The Benefits of Long Term Care Insurance are Invaluable
While many federal employees may question whether long term insurance is worth the cost, they may ultimately realize that the emotional and financial reassurance of having this protection may offer value that outweighs the cost of premiums.
If you struggle with the question, “What‘s it worth?,” look beyond dollars and cents. Evaluate how an insurance program like the Federal Long Term Care Insurance Program (FLTCIP) can help ensure your independence as well as maintain your quality of life and positive relationships with family members and friends, should you ever need long term care.
As you assess the FLTCIP’s value, consider these important benefits.
Receive care in your own home, from people you know
After experiencing a long term care event, you should have the freedom to choose where you’ll receive care and from whom. Most long term care is provided at home by unpaid caregivers,1 and so the FLTCIP is designed to accommodate that scenario.
If you prefer to receive care at home, the FLTCIP offers you two important advantages. First, the FLTCIP will pay up to 100% of your chosen daily benefit amount for home-based care; and second, it will pay for informal care services provided by a friend, relative, or private caregiver.2
Remain independent and in control
The FLTCIP can also help ensure your independence and reduce your reliance on loved ones. Some individuals choose to use their insurance benefits to help pay for care from a home care agency rather than depend on their family members or friends to assist with hands-on care. This approach minimizes the need for loved ones to make the financial, emotional, and physical sacrifices associated with caregiving. Important relationships can continue much as they always did, while your hard-earned savings can be preserved as intended—for supporting a loved one, contributing to charity, enjoying your retirement, and more.
Use stay-at-home benefits for improved care, comfort, and safety
The FLTCIP offers enrollees an added benefit that supports care at home, including care-planning visits, home modifications (such as installing wheelchair ramps), emergency medical response systems, durable medical equipment (such as wheelchairs, walkers, or hospital-style beds), caregiver training, and home safety checks. This stay-at-home benefit will provide 30 times your daily benefit amount for you to spend on important equipment and services that can improve your care, comfort, and safety.
Protect savings and assets from long term care costs
The financial impact of long term care events are well-documented and widely publicized. Paying for continuing custodial care and assistance with bathing, dressing, eating, and other daily activities can be expensive. The current national average for long term care services for a home health aide is $21 an hour while the daily cost of a semiprivate room in a nursing home is $251.3
The FLTCIP offers comprehensive protection against the consequences of a possible long term care event. In this respect, long term care insurance is much like homeowners, auto, and even health insurance. The coverage is there if and when you need it, but you hope you never have a reason to use it.
Plan ahead today
Visit LTCFEDS.com to learn more about your long term care insurance options and which FLTCIP plan may be right for you.
Note: It’s important that you apply for long term care insurance when you are in good health. Certain medical conditions, or combinations of conditions, will prevent some people from being approved for coverage. You need to apply to find out if you qualify for coverage under the FLTCIP.
1 U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. “Where Can You Receive Care?,” http://longtermcare.gov/the-basics/where-can-you-receive-care/ (accessed May 2016).
2 The FLTCIP will reimburse for informal care services if care is provided by a person who did not live in your home at the time you became eligible for benefits.
3 John Hancock Life & Health Insurance Company. “John Hancock 2016 Cost of Care Survey,” conducted by LifePlans, Inc., September 2016.