Many people have the hope of staying in their homes for a lifetime, especially as they grow old. It is usually possible, but there are certain periods in life when people may need a little more help - mainly when it comes to shopping for food, cooking, or even taking a bath - and these periods tend to fall between the eighties and nineties. Other people need help even more frequently and this could mean that it is the right time to move to a geriatric home where a group of professionals will be waiting to take full care of them, and this is the exact time where long term care insurance becomes really helpful.
Families can sometimes realize when a relative is not able to share the house anymore. It can be a husband or wife, a father or mother or a grandparent. The house might have even been refurbished in order to comply with theolder person's needs, and a nurse can be hired to help take care of them. Another action to be taken is to coordinate food and daily assistance. However, when these things have already been done, and they are still not enough, then it is time to ask for help.
The first question that pops up is where you can get the right help. Well, here are some answers to this and other questions that you may have when looking for a good place for you or your relative to move in this kind of situation. Sometimes the need of receiving help increases its size over time. An appropriate example could be a man who losses his wife at the age of seventy, and for the next years he will probably face problems dealing with cooking, and a good option for this can be going to eat at a center that cooks, especially for older people; but he can also have difficulties in driving and taking the stairs, and he would probably need to have an elevator in the building.
When this happens sons tend to manage the idea of taking their parents to live with them, but this is not always the right choice. Having long term care insurance can help you and your family deal with these eventual needs.
The benefits that must be taken into account regarding long term care insurance policies is that they offer the chance of living in a quiet place, where professionals can take care of the people 24 hours a day, and many people can also get this service provided in their own homes, which makes them feel safer.
Conseco hired a great ad agency. I loved their long term care insurance commercials. They were so funny! Yet every time I watched them, I couldn't help but cringe. My concern was that people would buy a Conseco policy, then perhaps someday their rates would go up, or worse yet, their claims might get denied. Clay and I knew that, as far back as the 1990's, Conseco was selling relatively inexpensive policies to lots of unhealthy people. Now, approving "sickies" for long term care insurance seems compassionate, doesn't it? Of course it does. I sure wish companies would approve more, but that's not how insurance works. Companies with smart actuaries know that insurance can only work when there are more "low risk" policies sold, than there are "high risk" sold. That way, more money is coming in than going out. More premium payments, less benefit pay-outs. That's how the "pool" of money held by insurance companies stays strong.
When the high risk/low risk ratio is reversed, the money pool is in danger of drying up. That was the problem we saw, way back when. Clay never sold Conseco. He was advised not to by his mentor, but he did sell a few Penn Treaty policies to people who, due to health concerns, would not have been approved by other companies.
Penn Treaty had decent policies, yet Clay always told his clients that there was a good chance their premiums would go up in the future, due to Penn Treaty's high risk/low risk ratio and lower premium prices. Still, given the choice between having no LTC insurance at all and the possibility, no matter how great, of rate raises most people chose the insurance. Would Clay have made the same choice if he had the chance of being insured. You better believe it"? He would buy a Penn Treaty policy today if they would take him.
Even so, I think it's high time the long term care insurance industry got a good once over. Rate raising and refusing to pay-out, if only from a few companies, damages the entire industry, not to mention consumers' well being. If you diligently pay your premiums, year after year, and you have a legitimate claim, you should expect the LTCi carrier to pay-out, as per your contract. Paper shuffling and other foot dragging techniques being used by a few insurers are shameful.
Why has Congress waited so long to look into this situation? Was the Insurance lobby too strong for the last Congress? It may be political "low-hanging fruit" to rail against the Evil Insurance companies during these pre-election days, but I'm glad that Obama and Hillary have the moxy to do so. The states haven't been doing a great job regulating, so maybe this will get their tails in gear.
One last thing: 81 year old Mary Rose Derks has gotten a lot of press. She's been in a nursing home since 2002 and her long term care has cost her $70,000 or so. Articles and news shows site her case, claiming that Conseco has not paid her claim. I'd like to know where her LTCi agent has been all this time. Isn't he helping her, fighting for her?
It's easy to get alarmed. Yet we don't know what Mary's policy's contract wording was, so we don't know if Conseco is in the right or if Mary Rose Derks has a valid claim. There could be legal wording in the policy itself that allows Conseco to not accept her claim. Conseco might have found that Mary didn't disclose all of her health conditions when she applied, therefore, nullifying her contract. Or not. Maybe Conseco is simply trying to save a buck at the expense of a fragile, little old lady. We don't know. We only hear the plaintive cries of her family so eagerly repeated through the Media.
But I bet Conseco wishes they had spent less on advertising and more toward paying their claims now!
And let's remember: Long Term Care Insurance companies pay out Billions of dollars in claims. Most LTCi companies should be applauded for helping Americans during times of great stress and need.
Both Tristan Andrews & Clay Cotton are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.
Tristan Andrews has sinced written about articles on various topics from Pets, Education and Collection Agencies. Tristan Andrews is a freelance author who writes articles about and other Insurance topics for. Tristan Andrews's top article generates over 673000 views. to your Favourites.
Clay Cotton has sinced written about articles on various topics from Insurance, Parental Care and Health. Long term care insurance activist, CB Cotton, writes for - The Online Baby Boomers Decision. Clay Cotton's top article generates over 6600 views. to your Favourites.