Have You Thought About Hybrid Long Term Care Insurance?
Long Term Care
Have you considered Long Term Care (LTC) insurance, but you’re worried that your rates will increase down the road?
To address this common concern, LTC insurers have introduced innovative products to help people hedge their risk. While traditional, stand-alone LTC coverage is still the most common, these alternatives may be worth considering:
Long Term Care Insurance Provides Options
There are many ways to pay for care when you need it and where you’d like to receive it.
Traditional LTC insurance is generally the most cost-effective option for most people, but these alternatives are available for those who want to guarantee some money back or those who can’t obtain traditional coverage.
- Life insurance hybrid plans. Designed to address the biggest concern of buying long term care insurance—the possibility that you’ll never need it—hybrid Life insurance policies allow you to advance your death benefit to help cover the cost of long term care. They even offer additional riders to extend your LTC protection, in some cases with no lifetime maximum. Should you never need LTC, the death benefit is paid to your beneficiary. These plans are designed with guaranteed values to provide rate stability for the life of the policy.
- Long term care annuities. Another alternative for those concerned they might spend tens of thousands of dollars on something they may never use, a long term care annuity also pays a long term care benefit should you need extended care. These annuities provide increased cash flow—up to two to three times your total premium. And if your long term care benefits are never triggered, you’ll still earn a yield from the annuity.
- Short term care policies. A number of leading insurers now offer policies that provide coverage for up to one year, with no waiting period. Short term care plans can provide a very appropriate and affordable amount of coverage for many. They may be able to provide protection for those who have previously been declined for traditional LTC coverage, or those who have waited so long that it’s become cost-prohibitive.
They are also great options for those who want to leverage existing Life insurance policies or annuities. To learn more about which type of coverage is right for you, contact an LTC insurance expert today.
