Longterm Care

Insure Your Retirement
Planning for retirement requires that your most valuable assets be properly protected against loss. Your accumulated resources for retirement are most certainly a valuable asset, for without them you will never be able to stop working.
A properly designed Long Term Care Insurance Policy helps to insure your retirement, as otherwise an extended need for long term care assistance can readily deplete your retirement savings.

Know The Facts
We offer our services in educating you on the very important subject of Long Term Care (referred to as "LTC"), as well as quoting the proper protection for you among the most respected Long Term Care Insurance Companies in the business.

Interesting Problem...We're Living Longer
What is LTC? It is the medical and personal services people receive when they're no longer able to care for themselves. Research shows that 60 to 70 percent of Americans who live to age 65 will require such assistance at some point in their lives. The demand for LTC is on the rise because we are an aging population that is generally living longer thanks to scientific and medical advances. Astoundingly, over the past 100 years Americans' life expectancy has gone from 47 years to 77 years, our longer years requiring more assistance to meet life's basic daily activities . With the rise of two-income households, and people tending to work later in life, help by family members is less available resulting in outside care-giving assistance to be in greater need.

Benefit "Triggers", At All Ages
LTC Insurance pays benefits for the services people require when they can no longer perform two or more of the following "activities of daily living": eating, dressing, bathing, toileting, continence, or transferring. The need for assistance can arise suddenly due to injury or chronic illness, or gradually due to physical or cognitive decline. It is not just for the elderly, as debilitating accidents, occupational injury, strokes, or a chronic illness such as multiple sclerosis or Lou Gehrig's disease can strike long before retirement. In fact, 40% of people currently receiving long term care services are adults 18 to 64 years old. Levels of care covered by insurance include Home and Community Health Care, Care in an Assisted Living Facility, and Nursing Home Care.

A False Sense Of Security
It would be a mistake to think you can rely on Medicare or Medicaid. Medicare only covers "medically necessary" skilled nursing care, and only if it is followed by a hospital stay. If eligible, the maximum period for which benefits are payable is only about three months. There is no coverage for the much more common need of assistance with daily living. To be eligible for Medicaid, which is government health insurance for low-income Americans, it is required that a person have almost no assets other than their home.

For The Middle Class
People who should not consider Long Term Care Insurance are those who do not have much in the way of value in assets to protect, and on a related basis lack the ability to pay for the insurance. The insurance is also not needed by people who are independently wealthy and as such have large enough sums of funding that they do not find it a burden to pay for the care they may some day need. All others, which is most of us, should be educated enough to understand the risk they face and the consideration of offsetting that risk with insurance. To not plan can leave your finances vulnerable and your family burdened.

Predominant Rate Factors
A major factor in determining the premiums charged for a policy is the age of the person when they obtain coverage. Therefore, considering a policy at your current age will make it available at the lowest possible rates. A person's health can also play a role in determining rates or eligibility, so it is much better to look into coverage before you have a serious health problem.

Policy Options Offer Flexibility
The options that make up the policy's coverage include the waiting period before benefits are payable, the monthly amount of benefits, how many years the benefits are payable, and the inflation protection option that automatically increases benefits while the policy is in force.

The Right Insurer
The insurance company we recommend must be very financially sound so as to meet their promise to pay many years into the future. They must have a top-quality policy at competitive premiums, and a track record of never having increased premiums on an in-force policy.

Contact Us
If you are interested in speaking with us for additional information, you may call Doug Merritt, Senior Vice President of Bollinger, at 800-526-1379, ext. 6510, or email to Doug Merritt.