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Take Responsibility Today for Tomorrow's Uncertainty With Long-Term Care Insurance

No one wants to imagine a day when they may need to call on family to assist with daily tasks or personal care, but the reality is that you might need some form of long-term care.

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Long-Term Care Insurance

A long-term care insurance policy could help you plan for and choose your future care while helping to protect what you've worked your whole life to secure. With long-term care insurance, you may be able to take control of care decisions, maintain independence and remain in your home longer. You may be able to reduce the burden on family members — and potentially safeguard your legacy, retirement savings and assets.

Depending on your own personal health and family longevity, you might someday need assistance with many of the activities of daily living, like eating and dressing. That's when having long-term care insurance can help. Being able to pay for professional care can also lessen the financial and emotional burden on your loved ones.

What Is Long-Term Care Insurance?

Long-term care insurance coverage is designed to help you pay for the costs associated with nursing home care, home health care and assisted living facilities as you grow older. This kind of additional insurance can help maintain your financial independence for a longer period of time. Keep in mind, too, that the best time to obtain long-term care insurance is while you're young and healthy — before you may see the actual need for it — since premiums can significantly increase with age.

Why Do I Need Long-Term Care Insurance?

Going without long-term care insurance might mean relying on government programs, burning through your retirement savings — or possibly leaving your family or children with medical and nursing home bills. Why? Many people mistakenly believe their care needs will be covered by the government or other insurance policies. However, government programs such as Medicare and Medicaid aren't designed to cover care costs over long periods of time. In addition, long-term care assistance isn't typically paid for by health or disability insurance.

With Medicare, patients receive long-term care support only if they need skilled services or rehabilitative care, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. This includes nursing homes for a maximum of 100 days and home-based care for a short period of time for those receiving skilled home-health services. People must pay for long-term care services that are not covered by a public or private insurance program.

Medicaid is primarily based on income, according to Medicaid.gov. Individual states first determine if someone is eligible for Medicaid, then decide whether that person qualifies for long-term care services. While thresholds vary by state, Medicaid recipients typically must spend most of their personal assets to qualify.

Many people think they can rely on employer-sponsored and private health insurance for care. However, the majority do not significantly cover long-term care needs. Most cover only the same kinds of limited services as Medicare. If long-term care is covered, it is typically only skilled, medically necessary care that lasts for a short period of time.

Potentially, without long-term care insurance, you may have to rely on personal assets and family for care. Personal income and assets are frequently used to cover care costs, according to the AARP. And often, family members must assume the burden of care.

What Are the Benefits of Long-Term Care Insurance?

Is long-term care insurance coverage worth it? That's certainly up to you to decide, but when making future financial plans, consider whether you could afford to pay for long-term care on your own. Few people anticipate needing this kind of help, and sometimes the need comes unexpectedly. Your life could change in an instant and planning now could help protect your future.

Help Reduce the Burden of Care For Your Loved Ones

Would a family member or other loved one be able to serve as your caregiver, and would you even want them to take on this role? Would you be able to afford outside help?

Help Protect Your Assets & Personal Savings

Your personal savings could dwindle quickly if you had to pay for long-term care expenses out-of-pocket.

Preserve Your Quality of Life

Knowing that you'll have the necessary help available if the time comes, without having to worry about your finances, could give you a better quality of life.

What Does Long-Term Care Insurance Cover?

This policy type provides for two main categories of care: skilled care and custodial care.

Skilled care includes nursing and physical, occupational, respiratory and speech therapy. It may take place in the home, at adult day centers, assisted living facilities, Alzheimer's facilities or nursing homes.
Custodial care is often performed in the home and includes help with day-to-day activities like eating, bathing, dressing, getting in and out of bed or a chair, as well as using the bathroom.

With a long-term care policy, you can choose the benefit period (the length of time during which a benefit is paid to you) and amount that are right for you. Common benefit periods include one, two, five or 10 years as well as to age 65. The benefit amount you select to cover long-term care expenses can start as low as $50 per day or $1,500 per month and it's not taxable as income. Plus, if you apply for coverage as a couple at the same time, you may qualify for a discount.

What Does Long-Term Care Insurance Cost?

A long-term care insurance policy could help protect you against future care costs, but you might also be wondering what it would cost now. That could depend upon a number of factors, including:

Your age when you purchase the policy: Generally, rates are better for those who purchase this insurance at a younger age.
Length of coverage & maximum amount the policy would pay per day: It's difficult to estimate the total dollar amount you might need, but a good place to start is where you intend to reside in the future, as the cost of care varies by state and region — and care costs rise due to inflation.
Your family's medical history: This could influence the cost and benefit length of a policy. This is especially true in cases where a disease is diagnosed well before someone's senior years.

It is also important to note that long-term care insurance may require a medical examination for underwriting, and this insurance type likely won't cover preexisting conditions.

Let's Get Started

Let's work together to find the best option for you. We'll evaluate the benefits of long-term care insurance, the alternatives, and how everything fits in with your overall resources and goals.

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Why Western & Southern Life?

With solid financial ratings and a history of more than 135 years of financial strength, Western & Southern Life offers you financial expertise to help determine the right insurance, retirement and investment solutions to help meet your goals. A knowledgeable financial representative is available to help you with your long-term care insurance needs.

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IMPORTANT DISCLOSURES

Western & Southern Agency, Inc. is a member of Western & Southern Financial Group (Western & Southern). Some products available are issued by third party insurance companies, which are not affiliated with any Western & Southern member company. Western & Southern Agency, Inc. is the distributor. A contract's financial guarantees are subject to the claims-paying ability of the issuing insurance company. In the State of California, Western & Southern Agency, Inc. is known as and does business as Western-Southern Insurance Agency.