How to Protect Yourself and
Your Family with Long
Term Care Insurance

Consider the following scenario: You have a stroke. It is serious, but not fatal. After a few days or even weeks in the hospital, doctors are able to stabilize your condition, and you are sent home. But you are paralyzed. You are unable to dress yourself, feed yourself and go to the bathroom without assistance. Basically, what you need is a way to cover daily custodial care.

Long Term Care Quotes

* Question: Does your health insurance policy cover the costs of the care you need if this happens to you?

* Answer: No, not at all.

So, if the previous scenario happens, what do you do? Well, if you don't have long term care insurance, you pay for the care yourself. Or you could get long term care quotes from companies that will cover you.

If you have few or no assets, the government pays for it through Medicaid. But if you do have assets, and you need care that is custodial in nature, you could exhaust all your assets paying for this care, particularly if you need it for several years.

Many people mistakenly believe their health insurance covers custodial care. In fact, health insurance is mostly for critical care that gets you back (or close to) where you were before you got sick or were injured.

But some injuries and illnesses don't allow you to get fully healthy again. A stroke can leave you paralyzed for life. Alzheimer's disease likely will eventually prevent you from caring for yourself.

* Fact. When people think about long term care, they usually think of nursing homes. In fact, only 20% of long term custodial care takes place in nursing homes. The remaining 80% is at home. Family members or friends provide about 90% of at-home custodial care. As such, just because you need custodial care doesn't mean you will have extensive costs. However . . .

* Fact. More and more Americans will need long term custodial care sometime during their lifetimes, and it isn't only the elderly who require custodial care. Currently, 40% of those who need such care in this country are younger than 65.

* Fact. One in four people will enter a nursing home sometime during his or her lifetime.

* Fact. Further, of those who turned 65 in 1990, three out of seven will be in a nursing home at some point. Custodial care, if it requires a professional or professionals, is definitely not cheap. Nursing home costs range from $40,000 to $80,000 a year. Home care costs anywhere from $10,000 to $30,000 annually.

Consider these costs when compared to your current asset base. And remember that you won't be able to earn much of a living, if any, when you require such care. More than anything else, the need for long term care can cause life savings to evaporate.

Consumer TIP: Long term care insurance is the solution to this potential financial disaster. A good long term care policy will cover custodial costs in nursing homes or at one's residence. A good policy will provide coverage if you are unable to perform one or more of what are known as "activities of daily living." bathing, dressing, eating, going to the bathroom, or transporting yourself in and out of bed.

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