Long term care (LTC) is coverage that provides home health care, adult day care, and nursing home coverage for individuals 65 onwards or someone who has a chronic or disabling condition that needs constant supervision. This benefit package helps provide for the cost of long term care beyond a predetermined period.
LTC is not health insurance or medical care. Individuals who require LTC are usually not sick in the traditional sense but instead are unable to perform the daily activities. Activities of Daily living (ADL) is what health professionals call the routine ability of feeding, bathing, dressing, grooming, work, homemaking, and leisure. There are several evaluation tools that the medical profession uses such as the Katz ADL scale, the Lawton IADL scale, the Roper-Logan Tierney model of nursing, and the program of all-inclusive care for the elderly (PACE).
Good Neighbor Insurance, www.gnazhealth.com, provides different LTC options for our clients. Good Neighbor Insurance (GNI) also provides individual and family health insurance, Medicare Supplement plans, dental plans, personal property and casualty cover, and other benefits such as short term travel insurance. You may reach any of GNI’s agents by calling their toll free number at 866-636-9100 or Phoenix Arizona number at 480-633-9500 or email them at info@gninsurance.com.
Why do U.S. citizens purchase LTC cover?
- Protect assets
- Avoid becoming a burden to their family
- Ensure they receive care in a quality facility
- Ensure they have options for care
- Be able to maintain personal dignity and independence
- Have peace of mind.
Why U.S. citizens do not purchase LTC cover?
- Is it affordable?
- Is it the best way to protect my assets?
- How do I make sense of this complicated product?
- What is in the fine print?
- When is the best time to buy?
- Will the benefit level be enough when the time comes?
- Am I not covered already?
- What if I never need it?
- Why has no one approached me about it?
What do our clients expect from one of our LTC agents?
- Life experience – an older agent because of a greater life experience
- Low pressure, easygoing manner – no hard sale
- The ability to explain the benefits in easy terms
- Specific knowledge of the senior market
- Agent should have a LTC policy too
Who typically desires to purchase a Long Term Care policy?
- Female, Caucasian, age 55-64
- Married with adult children
- Working in a white-collar profession; not yet retired
- College educated
- Living in a metropolitan area with a population of at least 250,000
- A homeowner with 11 or more years in a the current resident
- Affluent; upper middle class with a household income of $100,000 or more
- A “planner” who is interested in financial issues; owns life insurance and other conservative investment products
- Family oriented
- Exposed to LTC issues; knows someone (a family member or friend) who has needed LTC services
- Research oriented; an online user; self-educated about LTC
- Generally skeptical and mistrusting of financial advisors and insurance companies
Doug Gulleson loves to scuba dive overseas and makes sure he has his US health care and overseas health care, www.gnazhealth.com , information with him at all times when he travels Keep our blog close by you, www.gntravelinsurance.com, for continual updates on US and international health care.
Posted by Doug Gulleson at www.gntravelinsurance.com
