As people get older their thought turns from the various types of insurance like house, insurance car or fire insurance to long-term health care insurance. This type of insurance covers more than just nursing or medical care and usually is supposed to include payment for any assistance you may need due to medical problems that leave you unable to care for yourself. The concept sounds good but what are some of the things you need to watch out for?

Most insurance companies say they will pay out long-term health payments when a person can no longer perform two of several basic activities. There is bathing, eating, dressing, and be able to move about, be confident and be able to use the toilet. As a person ages, usually the first thing to go is being able to bathe themselves. Dressing usually follows closely behind that so obviously those two combined would require long-term health care. However, if someone is not able to eat or use the toilet, then they usually can't last very long and you probably won't get a very long pay out on your insurance policy. Becoming incontinent is not far removed from not being able to use the toilet that most of the notes a severe downgrading your health. So the fact that the majority of these symptoms required to start your long-term health payout means the person is near the end also means you won't see much of a payout in the long run. This may be a harsh way to look at it but it helps you to appreciate the need to look very soberly at long-term health care insurance. Spending a lot of money on large premiums may not be the wisest thing unless you are positive the insurance company won't balk at a payout and hold you up for some time. You then end up paying out-of-pocket expenses to care for a loved one even though you've already put out money supposedly to take care of that. Another area where long-term healthcare kicks in is when a person suffers from dementia or other cognitive impairment.

When you take out long-term health insurance make sure you understand fully all the requirements that must be met before payments start. Whose doctor will have the last say when it comes to determining the medical payout threshold is met. Is it strictly up to the insurance company? Is there a waiting period before you begin to collect payments? People with dementia usually live no more than four years in a nursing home. Life expectancy for those who can't eat or use the toilet is fairly short because of the surrounding health problems. A waiting period of six months to a year severely cuts into your payout from the insurance company. Will it also pay for health care over a number of months after a serious operation or to recover from a serious illness in old age?

Make sure you know how much it is going to actually cost to keep someone in long-term health care. You don't want to buy your premiums and then find out that it won't cover very much. Nursing Homes cost is about $70,000 per year. A private one-bedroom unit in an assisted-living facility costs nearly $30,000 per year. And in-home professional nursing care can cost in excess of $25 per hour. Make sure your money gets what you really want.

The idea of long-term health care insurance is a good one. We all want to make sure we're taking care in our old age or make sure our loved ones are taken care of in the best way possible. Just make sure you don't get taken for a ride and put out expensive premiums to get little in return. Do your loved ones a favor and do your homework when it comes to long term health care insurance.