Are you looking for long term care insurance? People over 65 who may be retired or disabled will often require long term care. Medicaid supplemental insurance typically only pays for nursing home care, not for assisted living or other long-term care needs. If you are a person over 65 considering long term care insurance, the adult child or other care-giver of a person over 65 who needs long term care insurance or just someone trying to plan for your own future, what do you need to know about the insurance options which are available to you?

With long term care insurance, if you require in-home care later, you can have the expenses completely paid for. Most people don't like to think that they will ever be in the position to need this but the statistics show that many will.


You can be prepared by purchasing long term care insurance for people over 65 before the time comes when you need help.



Here are some ways in which you can pay for your long term care:

• Pay for your expenses out of pocket.
• Qualify for Medicaid by meeting a specific income/poverty requirement
• Purchase a comprehensive long term care insurance policy

For most people, it is simply not feasible to pay such expenses out of pocket. Statistics show that long term care costs billions of dollars a year for home care providers and family members taking care of a loved one. This type of care is very expensive and can completely deplete a family's life savings in a short period of time. Some families simply don't have enough money to provide the care in the first place.

Some people who are in poverty level and meet the state requirements for aid may be eligible for Medicaid supplemental insurance but there are problems with this as well. Sometimes Medicaid just is not enough to meet your needs. In other cases, if the person has special needs (such as an elderly couple who want to stay together but have different health problems), Medicaid will not provide for this.

If you choose to purchase a comprehensive long term care insurance policy, your family will be protected from these high costs of full time health care. If you want to get the most benefit from your long term care insurance, you should consider getting it when you are still young and not yet in immediate need for it. It will be more affordable and also more accessible to you.

It's important to understand that your long term care insurance needs to be purchased before you are stuck with a serious long term illness or health condition in order to receive benefits.