Healthy aging means continually reinventing ourselves.
It's not being complacent.
It's creating life styles you choose to live.
It’s being in tuned with your health, noticing small changes before they become big and connecting with your doctors.
Staying healthy and feeling your best is important at all ages.
Long-Term Care (LTC) planning is all about doing everything to ensure you’ll be able to live life to its fullest.
LTC Insurance (LTCi) is here to help insure that we can still enjoy the little things in Life.....
We’ve got guys like Mick Jagger who is still pretty fantastic and youthful. You’ve got Barbara Streisand in her early 80's.
Most of us in our 50's. 60’s or 70's don’t think of ourselves as old. Generally, people think old age begins around 80. We’re living longer, staying healthy longer, and just remaining active longer.
Healthy aging is all about keeping alive your sense of purpose and your zest for life.
And in order to give yourself options on how you want to live your life in your 80’s, 90's and older, it's better to do some planning earlier rather than later.
And for partners there's an incentive to apply for LTCi together; major discounts in your premiums!
We don’t really know how we are going to age. We might have a suspicion because we see how our parents aged.
When I was turning 50, single and with no siblings, without hesitation I purchased two LTCi Policies. I was in perfect health and my income was growing every year.
My initial thoughts were…
It took me all this time to accumulate a good deal of money in the bank. There was no way I was going to use my hard earned savings, later in life, to pay for care that I most probably will need for a few years.
I wanted to know that I could continue to enjoy life without fear that one day, I would be dipping into my savings to pay for my LTC for years to come. While I had accumulated a sizable savings the costs of quality LTC could easily wipe out my healthy savings.
I did my homework and working with an Insurance Broker we found the perfect plans that provided both: cash and reimbursement benefits. For me, creating separate funding designated for my LTC will allow me not to have to dig into my brokerage, savings and retirement accounts if I should need many years of LTC.
When you are qualifying for your LTC benefits there might be an initial elimination period, of usually 90 days. During this time period you are responsible for your LTC expenses. Some programs that have cash benefits may not require an elimination period to start receiving your cash benefits.
With my LTC Policies in place, I will be able to continue to use my savings as I originally intended, knowing I created separate funding to pay for my LTC needs.
I look at purchasing LTCi in a way similar to purchasing car and home insurance. I am glad I have it just in case, and even happier when another year goes by that I don't have to file a claim and use my insurance.
One difference with purchasing LTCi is that it's inevitable that we are all going to grow older and find we'll need it.
When we start receiving benefits, the premiums we have been paying for our policies will usually stop.
So, while you hope to never have the need to collect on your car or home insurance, with LTCi the future value of the benefits you receive will be based on all the premiums you paid into your policy.
My mom's arthritis
At times I think about my mom's arthritis; how at first it was manageable and then in her 80's it had a major impact on her quality of life. I saw how she let it limit how she would interact with her daily activities. She fought against accepting a helping hand and only concentrated on the negative; she felt she was losing some of her independence.
Since I have a family history with arthritis, even with being pro-active, it may at a later time impact my life. I am telling you now that I won't let it stop me from enjoying cooking; I just might need some help.
Here's a sampling of some services that LTCi can provide me with so I can continue to live in my home:
A Licensed Health Care Professional who will help create a plan and coordinate services
Homemaker Services to provide help with grocery shopping and meals
Professional Services of a Registered Nurse, Home Health Aide, or Therapist
Through my own illustration you can see that LTCi is not just for when you are seriously ill or have to enter a nursing home.
LTCi is here to help insure that you can continue to do the little things in life that you once took for granted and still would like to do .....
With some assistance you'll find you can still do the daily activities you've enjoyed.
One question that is on everyone's mind: "Will my premiums be going up?"
The good news is that there is now Premium Rate Stabilization in effect.
The National Association of Insurance Commissioners Long-Term Care Insurance Model Regulation was first modified to include rate stabilization provisions in 2000. An updated model was developed in 2014.
If an Insurance Company is requesting a premium increase two criteria must be met:
they must first reduce the profit levels in their original pricing and
100 percent of the rate increase must go towards claims and customer service, not profits.
Around 25 years ago, when LTCi Programs were being developed, many of the Insurance Companies just did not develop the right algorithms to determine: future demand and cost of care.
In the years to come, you should see fewer premium increases by having a policy with a highly rate Insurance Company that works with solid algorithms. Will costs be going up for your care; most probably yes. And for those reasons you may see in the future premiums going up to insure you have a strong Policy in place.
My premiums have gone up two times. And when I look at the benefits I can receive in my 80's or 90's the benefits far outweigh my premium increases. Choosing the right Insurance Company for your LTCi coverage makes all the difference!
Let's start a conversation about: never stopping to reinvent yourself and being open to accepting a little help along the way. Reinvent what you enjoy doing!
Debra K. Bedell
Insurance - a great Hedge against Risk.