Why buy long term care insurance? The people who buy long term care insurance do so for the reasons below.
1. You Are Far More Likely to Get Assistance If It Is Someone Else’s Money Paying for It
If you need assistance and don’t have long term care insurance, what do you do? You get help from family and friends. Loved ones are essentially forced to help, or you go without assistance.
When family and friends can no longer provide the level of care you need, you spend down your own assets to pay for care until you have little left, and at that point government assistance programs pick up the cost of your care in a qualified nursing facility.
You are likely to access care faster when you have long term care insurance. This is one of the reasons people buy long term care insurance - so they have the ability to access care faster and use the insurance company’s money to pay for it.
2. A Small Number of People Will Have a Long Costly Claim
Jesse Slome, Executive Director of the American Association for Long-Term Care Insurance told me the story of one of the longest claims on record: a woman who paid $12,000 in premiums over only a few years, and got $1.2 million in long term care benefits over the next fifteen years. As Jesse said, “Is she lucky? No. I don’t think anyone would call her lucky.” She had purchased long term care insurance so her costs were covered, but I am sure she and her family both wish a long term care need had never arisen in the first place.
If you buy long term care insurance, let's hope you never need it. If you do, though, you'll be glad you have it.
3. You Want Freedom of Choice
When you buy long term care insurance you will have the necessary resources to afford quality care, and you will have the ability to choose how and where you receive this care. Those without substantial resources of their own, or those who did not buy long term care insurance, simply won't have as many choices.
Does that mean everyone should run out and buy long term care insurance? No, like any financial decision, you have to educate yourself, evaluate the pros and cons, and make a decision that is right for you.
