| 1. Protect Savings |
| As people age and start needing assistance, many rely on a spouse or other loved ones first. If your clients don’t have insurance, when family and friends can no longer provide the level of care they need, they will begin to spend down their assets to pay for care. Long-term care costs can deplete a retirement nest egg quickly. The median cost of care in a semi-private nursing home room tops $80,000 a year, according to Genworth’s 2016 Cost of Care Survey. |
| 2. Access to More Choices for Care |
| Premiums will be used to provide your clients with comprehensive care coverage. If they’re a long-term care insurance policyholder, they have the freedom to choose how and where they will receive 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. If your clients have to rely on Medicaid, their choices will be limited to the nursing homes that accept payments from the government program. Medicaid does not pay for assisted living in many states. |
| 3. Ability to Access Care Quickly |
| If your clients need assistance and don’t have long-term care insurance, what do they do? They get help from family and friends, pay for it out of pocket, and/or go on Medicaid. They are likely to access quality care faster when they have long-term care insurance because they know they’ll have the funds to pay for it! |
| 4. Customization of LTC Needs |
| You can customize policy details on things such as the daily benefit amount, benefit period, elimination period, inflation, return of premium, as well as a choice of additional riders available. Despite the alternatives to traditional LTC, those in retirement will find there is a great deal of peace-of-mind that comes from having a traditional LTC policy! |
| Does all of this mean everyone should buy long-term care insurance? No, like any financial decision, you have to educate yourself and evaluate the pros and cons, and make the right decision. |
