Boomer Watch: Benefits of Long-Term Care Insurance for Baby Boomers

There are various waysof obtaining long term care insurance plans as discussed in longtermcareprimer.com. If you have limited income and budget, you are advised to enroll with Medicaid. On the other hand, if you earn sufficient income and possess a lot of money as savings, you may consider buying a private long term care insurance policy.

Private insurance companies provide these plans, which are not funded by the state or federal government. Remember that you have to spend more money for private long term care insurance plans. Despite the cost, private long term care insurance plans offer wider coverage.

Advantages of Private Plans over Federal Government Plans

Take for example the case with Medicaid. As a Medicaid recipient with health problems, you initially have the option to choose between home-based care and nursing home care. However, changes in Medicaid policies result in additional eligibility requirements. You get less chances of qualifying for in-home care with medical supervision. Thus, you are prompted to stay in a nursing home.

With private plans, you have more long term care options. Aside from nursing home care, you may choose to receive coverage and services in an assisted living facility, retirement community, board and care home, or retirement community. For home-based long term care, private insurance policies offer more comprehensive coverage and additional benefits.

Private Plans Meet Baby Boomers Specifications

Another advantage of private long term care insurance plans is that you can customize your policy. You can decide on your waiting period. It is up to you whether it takes a week, a month, three months, or so before you can receive long term care payments.

You can get your benefits sooner through a shorter waiting period, but you have to pay extra money to the policy. At least private plans give you the option to postpone it if you are under a tight budget.

You can also determine the time period of receiving your long term care payments. It can last as long as a year, two years, five years, a decade, or even your whole lifetime. You can select a specific time period according to your financial capacity and situation.

Many private long term care insurance plans come with inflation protection so you can cope with the rising costs of long term care. This feature gives you additional long term care payments so you can keep your pace with increasing prices. Boomers who are above 40 and buy an insurance policy with compound annual inflation protection, they can have twice the value of yearly cost of premiums in the future.

Private Plans Pushed the Long Term Care Partnership

With Medicaid, you may spend much money for nursing home care that you may face poverty after your nursing home stay period expires. Medicaid does not offer the same asset protection as that with private long term care insurance plans.

 In fact, the consumer-friendly features of private policies prompted Medicaid to adopt these advantages. The result is a long term care insurance partnership between US state governments and private insurance companies.

Private long term care insurance plans work well as long as you can continuously pay for premiums. If you can afford one, then check out different private policies and get the one that suits you well.