Long-term care refers to the care you need when you can no longer perform routine activities that most people take for granted. Long-term care services are the types of services provided when you cannot get dressed, eat, or get out of bed on your own.
By 2050, it is estimated that 27 million Americans will be paying for long-term care services due to old-age, disease, or chronic illness. Today, 14 million Americans are already paying hundreds of thousands of dollars annually for long-term care services, eating away their retirement fund, their savings, or even the savings of their families and friends.
Luckily, long-term care insurance exists, and the sooner you sign up for it the better. Here are five reasons you should sign up for LTC Insurance today.
- The earlier you start, the less you pay
The younger you are when you start paying for long-term care insurance, the cheaper it is. For most long-term insurance plans, rates are set when you apply and are based on several factors: including how old you are, your overall health, and other conditions. Meaning, the younger and healthier you are when you apply, the better your rate will be.
- You have to be healthy to Qualify for most LTC Insurance
Speaking of being healthy, long-term care insurance does take pre-existing conditions into account. If you have any health complications, you can be charged more or denied coverage. That’s why it's important to apply early, before those complications arise.
SDPEBA members have access to a guaranteed issue plan with Unum, but you have to apply within 60 days of being hired. Guaranteed issue means if you apply, you cannot be turned away. This is not common in long-term care insurance plans.
If you are at all interested, I suggest you click here and schedule a call with our long-term insurance specialist today. - LTC is expensive, LTC Insurance is not
The average cost to live in an assisted living facility for one year is over $42,000. The average nursing home costs even more at $90,000 a year.
The annual cost for long-term care varies based on your plan but ranges, on average, between $1,700-$5,000 dollars a year.
Long-term care insurance costs significantly less than the price of long-term care services and most plans offer compound interest. - Anyone can end up needing LTC
You might think you don’t have to worry about long-term care because you don’t have a family history of Alzheimer's or cancer, but just about everyone will experience illness, injury, or old age in their lifetime.
Long-term care provides coverage and gives you the support to make the right choice for what type of care works best for you.
Since many diseases can spring up somewhat randomly, investing early in long-term care insurance is the only way to make sure you’re covered. - LTC gives you both independence and peace of mind during a time where it's difficult to find.
When it comes to care, choices matter. Long-term care insurance provides you with access to more choices as to how you can be taken care of. Investing in your future through a long-term care insurance plan gives you the independence to choose if you want to remain in your home or transition to a home during some of the more vulnerable moments of your life.
Long-term care insurance also eases the financial burden off you and your loved ones, allowing you to pay more attention to the pressing matters of your health and wellbeing. Enrolling for benefits sooner rather than later, gives you and your family the peace of mind knowing you’re covered in case you come to need long-term care.
No matter where you are in life, investing in your future and your health is always worth it. For more information about what LTC is and what options you have, click here.
If you are a member of SDPEBA and are interested in signing up for benefits or have some questions, click the button below to schedule a conversation with our long-term care specialist.