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Why Is Long-Term Care Insurance Important?

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Long-term care (LTC) insurance helps pay for care when you can no longer care for yourself. It may protect your family’s financial future and your investments and savings. Many employers are considering LTC policies for their employee benefits packages and for themselves. Here, Loesel-Schaaf Insurance Agency Vice President Ed Althof explains the benefits of long-term care insurance and the agency’s own LTC education program.

Public awareness of long-term care insurance has been growing. What is LTC?

LTC is custodial assistance with bathing, continence, dressing, eating, toileting, and transferring due to a chronic illness, cognitive issue or disability that can be provided in the home, at adult day care, or in an assisted or skilled nursing community.

Is LTC insurance right for everyone? Who qualifies? When is it best to consider a long-term care insurance policy?

An LTC plan is essential; whether insurance is appropriate should be an informed decision. People need to be educated to make the best choices for their situation.

Individual LTC insurance is medically underwritten; therefore, health and age are important factors. However, no one should presume they won’t qualify.
You are never as young or as healthy as you are today, so it’s never too early for you to consider LTC planning, especially individuals age 40 through 70 who are concerned about protecting their retirement portfolio or have had a personal experience.

What are the typical nursing costs with and without LTC coverage?

LTC insurance provides a dedicated stream of income to help pay for care. If your monthly benefit is less than the cost of care, you pay the difference out-of-pocket. Most don’t mind paying for care, just not 100 percent of it.

The PA median cost for a Home Health Aide is $21 per hour. The annual cost for Assisted Living is over $42,000; Skilled Nursing is $113,150 for a private room. These costs are expected to double every 15 years and must be taken into consideration when planning for future care.

Why should employers consider offering LTC insurance as part of their benefits package?

Our Long-Term Care Education and Planning Program (LTCEPP®) is the “missing link” in a comprehensive benefit program. Through 401(k)s and profit-sharing plans, companies are helping employees save and plan for a secure future. Paying for care can affect the best thought-out retirement plan. Providing employees options that address LTC and its related effects assists them in a difficult time and adds value and competitiveness to an organization’s benefit program.

LTCEPP® at the employer level can offer advantages such as underwriting concessions and federal tax advantages. A well-designed LTC program with selective funding for owners, spouses and key employees can enhance a company’s recruitment/retention strategies.

Tell us about your exclusive agreement with the MBA to provide discounts and the best premium rates available in LTC insurance.

We’ve negotiated discounts specifically for MBA members and their families. As an independent agency, we have access to traditional long-term care and life hybrid plans through various carriers. There is no specific cookie-cutter approach. Plans are tailor made to employer’s desires.

How do I learn more?
Contact me at 877/718-9935, 814/833-5433 or ealthof@LSinsure.com. Also look for information about upcoming MBA LTCEPP® seminars and webinars in 2016. Seminars are already scheduled for February 3 and 10 at the MBA Conference Center in Erie.