Harnessing Your Life Insurance Policy for Long-Term Care

Make Your Policy Work For You

As you and your loved ones get older, it could be time to start considering how you'll pay for long-term care. Paying for long-term insurance is one option, but your life insurance policy could help you pay for any long-term care that's needed. 

What is Long-Term Care?

Long-term care generally refers to non-medical care for patients who need assistance with basic daily activities. This may take the form of nursing home care, home health care or adult day care for individuals age 65 and older with disabling conditions.

Long-term care can be expensive, especially if you are paying for it out-of-pocket. Depending on the type of care you or a loved one needs, you could spend up to $105,850 a year, according to Statica¹. 

Thankfully, other options can keep you from having to use your retirement income or savings to pay for long-term care. There are three main ways to get long-term coverage from your existing life insurance policy: convert your policy, add a long-term care rider or change to a hybrid policy. 

Converting Your Policy

You can opt to convert your policy to a long-term care benefit plan. Life insurance to long-term care conversions is a relatively new solution. You may have heard them called long-term care benefit plans. Converting a life insurance policy can provide a higher return on the cash surrender value or life settlement. It also allows the policyholder to maintain their Medicaid eligibility. 

Adding a Long-Term Care Rider

A long-term care rider can be added to your policy to help ensure that you're financially protected. A long-term care rider pays explicitly for expenses associated with your long-term condition, including nursing home fees and assisted living costs.

Change to a Hybrid Policy

Along with the life insurance death benefit, hybrid policies can also include long-term care coverage for illnesses not covered by long-term care insurance. Hybrid life insurance policies provide long-term care if you need it; otherwise, it will be paid out like a regular life insurance policy. A hybrid might be a more economical option for someone who doesn't want to pay both life and long-term insurance premiums.

When you need help determining which type of insurance will be best for your needs, contact the office. We can help you assess your insurance options to make the most of your coverage.

^{¹https://www.statista.com/statistics/310446/annual-median-rate-of-long-term-care-services-in-the-us/}

^{This material was developed and prepared by a third party for use by your Registered Representative. The opinions expressed and material provided are for general information and should not be considered a solicitation for the purchase or sale of any security. The content is developed from sources believed to be providing accurate information.}