Can You Use Long-Term Care Insurance for In-Home Care?

By Steve Elliott | September 27, 2023 | Comments Off on Can You Use Long-Term Care Insurance for In-Home Care?

The simple answer is: yes. That’s it. Now, for the more complicated answer: yes, but… There may be conditions or clauses on a specific policy that mean the policyholder won’t be able to hire just anyone to provide in-home care support. Those can affect the long-term care insurance cost too.

Long-Term Care Insurance Cost San Diego CA - Can You Use Long-Term Care Insurance for In-Home Care?

Long-Term Care Insurance Cost San Diego CA – Can You Use Long-Term Care Insurance for In-Home Care?

There are many different types of elder care as well as numerous variations of in-home care support services available. For example, you have independent and agency-provided home care. Do you know the difference between the two? Basically, an independent home care provider is someone you would hire to take care of yourself or a loved one. An agency is a company that vets prospective caregivers, goes through their background, checks for any criminal history, and then trains them. Some agencies will even provide ongoing training and support to their care providers so they offer the highest level of support to elderly and disabled clients.

In what situations would you not be able to rely on in-home care with insurance?

Most policies will allow the holder to choose the type of elder care he or she would prefer, which means most will allow you to have in-home care. The key factor comes in when talking about who you can hire or who would be covered.

Depending on the policy, you may be eligible to have the policy pay for your daughter to care for your elderly mother. Your daughter might be in college or post-college age and living near her grandmother. This would make for a good option, right? However, a different policy may require the home care provider to work for a legitimate agency, to have gone through the rigorous hiring and training processes before it will pay for such service.

Keep in mind that insurance is designed as a safeguard, to protect the policyholder in the event of an accident, tragedy, or other situation that arises. It’s not a safety net for family or friends who need a job and may or may not actually do the work they get paid for. This isn’t to say that your daughter wouldn’t be a great in-home care aide for your aging mother, but it’s merely an example.

Would your spouse or daughter one day care for you?

The policy is for the policyholder and his or her immediate dependents. That usually means you and your spouse are in this care. Sometimes, if you have children under 18 and they become injured or disabled for a time, it may cover some of those expenses, too.

In the future, you may suffer a major health emergency and need ongoing care. Would your spouse or adult child care for you? Perhaps more Americans rely on family for this level of care than professional, experienced providers. That’s a wonderful gift, but it can place an incredible burden on those very loved ones.

Instead, with a quality long-term care insurance policy, you could rely on experienced care, allowing your loved ones to simply focus on you, and your relationship, and that can become so crucial in the latter years of life. So, yes, you can use long-term care insurance for in-home care (with most policies, at least), but there may be limits set on who you can hire to do the job.

If you or a loved one are considering Long-Term Care Insurance Cost in San Diego 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
Latest posts by Steve Elliott (see all)
Posted in Long-Term Care Insurance Cost and tagged ,