The Importance Of Conducting
A Long Term Care
Insurance Company Review
Before making a decision that may seriously affect your quality of life as you get older, you must do a serious long term care insurance company review. You have about a 50% chance of needing long term medical care if you live past a certain age. Right now, estimated daily costs of staying in a long-term care facility range from $105 to almost $200 and that number increases every year due to inflation. That adds up very quickly.
Long term care insurance may be the one protection you get the most out of and need the most. But what do you look for when trying to choose a company that meets your needs? A review of the companies on the market is the first step to take, even before you look at prices.
What’s Available?
It is important to know what you are looking for and what each company offers. Be sure that you understand the limits on the types of policies you are being offered. Premiums for a policy that only covers long term care facilities and has a 90 day elimination period will be much different than a policy from a company that covers home care, as well as facility care, and has a 30 day or 0 day elimination policy. So, review the coverages being offered by the variety of companies out there.
How Do I Know Which
Companies Are Reliable?
Check out a company’s ratings from the major insurance ratings companies. Long term care insurance companies receive ratings from independent ratings companies such as Moody’s and A.M. Best. These ratings will give you an idea of how strong and secure the insurance companies you are considering are. You want whatever company you choose to still be in business and able to cover you if and when the time comes.
Check with organizations like the Better Business Bureau, your state’s Division of Business and Professional Regulation and other insurance reporting groups to see if there have been complaints against the long term care insurance companies you are considering. If there is a history of being slow to pay, customers being unhappy with service and other problems, you may want to avoid that provider.
What Questions Should I Ask?
Ask some simple questions of your proposed insurer. How long has the company been offering long term care insurance? If they are new to that line of insurance, they may not stick with it and/or they may not have the bugs worked out of the system yet. Do you have to pay for care and then file to receive reimbursement of expenses, or will the company pay the care provider directly? It may create a lot of work, headaches and extra expense and inconvenience for you and your loved ones if you need to pay up front for all care costs.
What are the options offered by the company, in regards to policy details like daily and lifetime maximums and elimination periods? Some companies offer choices when it comes to maximums and elimination periods, in order to offer policies that fit every need and every pocketbook. Other companies have a standard policy for all. Be familiar with what you are being offered. Read the fine print.
If it looks too good to be true, it probably is. If the rates offered by one company are a fantastic deal compared to all the others, in all likelihood there is something flawed in the coverage they are offering. Investigate further to find out the reason for the discrepancy. Insurance providers, as with most businesses, tend to have similar prices as their competitors. A red flag should be raised if one company stands alone with a great deal.
Consistent Rates, Consistent Coverage
Has the company raised the premiums of their customers? By doing a simple online search, you can learn if the company you want to work with has already raised rates on its existing customers. This may be an indication of things to come and may be a factor to take into consideration. If the rate you are being quoted now will change in a few short years, how will the premium compare to what you are being offered by other companies now?
If you try to change insurance providers at that point, you will be older and therefore be a higher underwriting risk, leading to higher premiums. However, if you have a pre-existing condition or are having difficulty getting a long term care policy, you might want to gravitate towards those companies who have raised their rates in the past. Often it is an indicator of slightly looser underwriting requirements.
Knowledge of the background, stability, types of policies and customer service of the long term care insurance providers who are giving you quotes may save you from a lot of trouble in the future. Now you can complete your own long term care insurance company review and start protecting your future.
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Insurance Companies
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