When Is the Best Time of Year to Start a Long-Term Care Insurance Policy?

By Steve Elliott | May 8, 2023 | Comments Off on When Is the Best Time of Year to Start a Long-Term Care Insurance Policy?

Whether it’s spring, fall, winter, or summer, there are plenty of things to focus on at different times of the year. One thing many people don’t focus on at any time, even as they move out of their 40s and into and through their 50s happens to be long-term care insurance and its long-term care insurance cost.

Long-Term Care Insurance Cost Rancho Penasquitos CA - When Is the Best Time of Year to Start a Long-Term Care Insurance Policy?

Long-Term Care Insurance Cost Rancho Penasquitos CA – When Is the Best Time of Year to Start a Long-Term Care Insurance Policy?

Most people don’t think about long-term care insurance because they are not thinking about the prospect of requiring long-term care. Let’s face it, when you’re in your 40s or 50s, if you are relatively healthy and active still, the last thing you’re thinking about is being hospitalized, having a stroke or heart attack, or even being injured in a slip and fall accident. Since we’re not thinking about such things, we don’t really think much about long-term care.

For those who may, in passing, consider long-term care as a possibility for their future, they just assume their health insurance is going to cover those expenses. Or, if they are getting older, they assume Medicare or Medicaid is going to cover that once they reach official retirement age, which happens to be 67 as of the time of the writing of this article.

In reality, Medicaid is not going to cover long-term care expenses unless the individual has exhausted most of their assets and savings. The equity they have in a home, if they own one, is included in that. In other words, an individual might have to sell their house or take out a reverse mortgage to cover long-term care expenses before the state and federal government, through the Medicaid program, covers those expenses.

On top of all that, Medicaid will only cover nursing home care in most states. A few states do provide options for other elder care services. As far as private health insurance, most will only cover short-term care expenses, not long-term care.

So, when should you start a long-term care insurance policy?

If you are in your early to mid-50s, now is the optimal time to begin a policy, regardless of whether it’s the beginning of the year or the end, or somewhere in between. It might be spring when you’re reading this article. The birds are finally chirping, the leaves are starting to pop on the trees, and life is exploding around you. The last thing you might think about is the prospect of long-term care.

It could also be the middle of winter, the cold, brutal temperatures invading every pore of your body, you’re shivering just to stay warm as you run from the house to your car. It’s still a great time to look into long-term care insurance.

Whatever time of the year it is, the most important aspect happens to be your age. The longer you wait, the greater your risk factors might increase for health issues, especially if there’s a family history of them in your life. The sooner you begin a policy, the sooner you and your spouse or other immediate dependent might be covered for long-term care expenses, including up to about three years or more, depending on the policy.

If you or a loved one are considering Long-Term Care Insurance Cost in Rancho Penasquitos CA, please contact Steve Elliott at Capstone Insurance for an honest discussion about your future and your options. Call today at (858) 350-3161.

Steve Elliott
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