ALASKA

WHAT IS LONG-TERM CARE?

Long-Term Care (LTC) – Refers to the broad range of medical and personal services for individuals who need assistance with daily activities for an extended period of time. This includes day-to-day care that a patient receives in a nursing facility or in his or her residence following an illness or injury, or in old age, such that the patient can no longer perform at least two of the five basic activities of daily living: walking, eating, dressing, toileting, bathing, and mobility from one place to another.

WHY DO I NEED LONG TERM CARE INSURANCE?

Long-term care services are very expensive. One survey released by an insurance company showed that Alaska has the highest nursing home room rates averaging $578 per day and $570 per day for private and semi-private rooms respectively.  There are limited amounts paid by Medicare if certain conditions are met and it is not recommended that you rely on Medicare to pay for care.

HOW MUCH WILL MEDICARE AND MEDICAID PAY?

Medicare

• Medicare does not pay for most long-term care. Medicare only pays limited amounts if certain conditions are met.

Medicaid

• Medicaid will generally pay for long-term care if you have very little income and few assets. This is a governmental program
that is currently the major source of funding for long-term care services.
• Many people become eligible for Medicaid only after they have exhausted their own fi nancial resources by paying for long-term
care services.
• When Medicaid pays for your spouse’s nursing home bills, you are allowed to keep your house and furniture, a living allowance, and
some of your joint assets.
• Your choice of long-term care services may be limited if you are receiving Medicaid.

HOW MUCH WILL A LONG TERM CARE POLICY PAY?

The following will affect how much the policy will pay:
Riders – Check for any rider availability, e.g., inflation protection and waiver of premium. Check if the rider is guaranteed renewable, which means that companies cannot change the terms of the rider, including reduce or canceling benefits or changing the benefit
limit. Note that riders generally do not cover all costs associated with long-term care incurred during the period of coverage.
Carefully review all policy and rider limitations. Deductible – Check for choices and lengths of waiting, deductible or elimination periods.  Understand when the policy is going to start paying benefits.  Plan to pay for your care during the waiting, deductible, or
elimination period.  Daily Benefit – the policy will have generally limit daily benefits. The amount of daily benefit will depend on the
amount of the premium paid and the benefit maximum amount selected.

Source:  Alaska Division of Insurance

For further assistance, please contact
Scott A. Olson at 877-727-9582
or email Scott at Scott@LTCShop.com

 

Alaska License #:  82978