Get to Know the Tricks in Long Term Care Insurance Elimination Period

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Elimination period in its simplest definition is the period when a
person has to pay long-term care services out of his or her personal resources
and assets before the insurance takes over. The period for most policies ranges
from 0 to 100 days. It has been said that shorter elimination period can give
higher long term care premiums. Otherwise, choosing longer elimination period
for cheaper premiums could mean costly out-of-pocket expenses to cover the
elimination period. If you go either for longer or shorter elimination period,
you must have enough reserves aside from your insurance to prevent future
dilemmas.

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The
Tricky Part

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Many insurance companies use this scheme to save on the days they
have to pay for claims. You can buy zero-day elimination, but most agents will
ask you to purchase a 90 day elimination period. The 90 day elimination is
derived from the 100 day period of Medicaid coverage.

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Elimination period is tricky in a sense that it is defined
differently in most policies. Some financial experts surmised that elimination
period system is designed to shun claims. Here are some of the conflicting
definitions of elimination period:

1.??????
Most policies describe a day of elimination as day when paid care
services are performed, but others describe it as a calendar day without any
particular care

2.??????
Some policies, particularly 2-pool policies, have two mutually
exclusive elimination periods. Both periods should be met

3.??????
Some policies only require once-in-a-lifetime elimination, but
others require for each new circumstances

4.??????
Some policies waive elimination for home care but require it to be
used under facilities care, but some will allow waived days as qualified
facility elimination

5.??????
Some policies oblige the elimination period to happen in a
definite calendar period, otherwise you make a fresh start

6.??????
Home care for some company only take few days a week, and meeting
90-day elimination periods means up to six months or longer. These companies
consider only the minimum number home care days even though the actual stay
were less.

7.??????
A policy longer than 90-day elimination period, although less
expensive, may not be beneficial. Some companies require the person to stay in
a facility or become disabled for consecutive days to consider this as a
qualified elimination period. So say your elimination period is 90 days, you
need to stay in hospital or remain disabled for 90 consecutive days

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How
Much is Needed for Elimination Period?

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The best way to determine which elimination period will suit you
is to find out your overall expenses during that period. You should know the
average daily costs of facility care in your area. Multiply the cost to the
number of days in your elimination period, and the total costs will be your
overall expenses.

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The
Bottom Line

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The type of
elimination period is treated differently from one person to another. It
depends on the assets you wish to protect and the price you are targeting for
the monthly premiums. A reliable LTC company or agent should help you
understand the policy, lay out plans and determine the costs of nursing homes
in your area for you to be able to choose the best elimination period.


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