Summary of Standard Long-Term Care Plan Features
Benefit Period: The policy will
provide benefits for a stated term (usually a minimum of
3-4 years is recommended). The longer the benefit period,
the higher the premium.
Daily Benefit Amount: Generally $100 a day is
typical. The amount may vary based on the amount of income
available to pay for expenses. The higher the daily benefit
amount, the higher the premium.
Home Health Care: Most policies integrate home
health care into the core policy, and options for 50% to
100% of the nursing home benefit are available. For some
policies a home health care benefit is available through
a rider on the policy.
Inflation Protection: To protect against inflation,
policies include an automatic inflation provision so that
daily benefits increase by an average of 5% a year.
Elimination Period (waiting period): The elimination
periods vary from 0 to 100 days typically. During this
initial period, no benefits from the policy would be paid.
The longer the elimination period, the lower the premium.