LTC Insurance, The Elimination Period, And Ways To Save Money On This Insurance Coverage

Long term care insurance, or LTC insurance as most people call it, can be very important, because these policies cover you once you are a certain age or if you become disabled and unable to care for yourself at any age. The usual minimum age is sixty five tears old before benefits can be paid, except under certain circumstances. Long term care insurance will cover the cost of a nursing home, a home health aide, or an assisted living facility if you become unable to take care of yourself and need assistance. Long term care can be very expensive, sometimes fifty to one hundred thousand dollars a year or more. With such high costs, many people who can afford it are getting LTC insurance so that these costs don't become a burden to you or your family members. This insurance can have a steep premium, but there are ways to save money on a LTC insurance policy and still get the protection you need from these costs.

LTC insurance has a clause called the elimination period, and the duration of the elimination period will have a huge effect on the total cost of the policy. The elimination period is basically like a deductible, only expressed in terms of days instead of dollars. The elimination period is the time period for which you pay for any long term care out of your own pocket, before the LTC insurance policy will cover a claim. Once the elimination period has passed then the insurance will start to cover long term care. The time frame for the elimination period can be anywhere from none to ninety days, or even longer, and some common elimination times are none, thirty days, sixty days, or ninety days. Choosing a longer elimination period will bring down the rates for your LTC insurance policy. Many people want a policy with no elimination period, but the costs for this type are the highest, because benefit payments start immediately if you become disabled. Instead, choose a thirty day elimination period and you will save around ten to twenty percent, and if you go with a ninety day elimination period your insurance costs could drop by as much as eighty percent. These are savings which stay in your pocket instead of going into the insurance companies bank accounts.

LTC insurance can offer vital protection, but you need to determine the amounts and types of coverage you require. Many people buy a policy with lifetime benefits, but this could be a waste of your hard earned dollars, because long term care in a nursing home usually lasts under three years. This means that a policy with a claim value which will cover four years of long term care is usually more than sufficient, and anything over this amount is a waste of money on premiums. Instead only pay for the coverage you can reasonably expect to need for a four year policy, and watch the cost of the policy premiums plunge significantly, giving you savings while protecting you.