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Recent studies highlight what is a growing set of problems associated with long-term health care costs. Many of these problems arise out of the fact many Americans simply do not know how much these costs are and many rely on Medicare to pick up the bill when, in many cases, there is not enough to go around. If these issues were not enough, the fact that numbers of people declaring bankruptcy because of out of control medical bills, has created its own share of difficulties for long-term care and insurance coverage for those people who are not at retirement age.

Other factors that are beginning to have a greater impact upon health care costs and coverage involves companies reducing the range of their pension plans (in some cases, getting ride of pension programs entirely) and the health care benefits that are associated with those plans. Major medical problems later on in life, during your retirement years can have negatively affect your retirement savings amount since Medicare will handle only so much before you will have dip into your own funds.

Long-term care insurance (LTC) is one of the answers to this growing problem that is offered by many insurance companies to protect consumers from these types of situations. These unique insurance policies take the place of the frustrating experience dealing first with Medicare up to the point where extended care options are mentioned. Medicare does not cover extended care situations. This makes long-term care insurance a more appealing option, particularly when all other avenues have been exhausted.

LTC coverage includes services that are used to assist with both medical and non-medical needs of people suffering from debilitating and chronic illnesses or other types of disabilities, are unable to provide adequate care for themselves much of the time throughout the day. Long-term care insurance helps to keep down the costs that will be regular part of day to day life. A standard policy should deal with the costs of nursing-home facilities. With LTC coverage you have the chance to receive a daily dollar benefit or a fixed amount of money each day.

There are five central areas to view when considering long-term health insurance. They are comprehensive or facilities-only plans, daily benefit amounts, the elimination or wait time, the benefit period, as well as inflation protection.

Comprehensive plans help pay for costs of care in the home as well as an outside nursing facility. Facilities-only plans require the care takes place at a long-term care facility such as a nursing home or a hospice. They are also the less expensive option when compared with comprehensive plans.

Some plans pay on a monthly or weekly basis is called the daily benefit amount. The benefit amount is the amount of time that you the customer wish establish to receive the daily benefit amount. This period varies.

How long you have to wait from the time you are eligible for the benefit until you begin receiving them. When policies have brief or non-existent waiting periods, the costs will be quite high over the course of time. Inflation protection is a way to mitigate the rising health care costs.

A Long Term Care (LTC) Insurance policy provides flexible services. You can get a plan that meets all of your specific requirements, needs, and budgetary constraints. Similar to other health insurance options, purchasing a LTC plan is less expensive if you get involved with one when you are in excellent health. Generally, the younger people are able to obtain more affordable rates than the elderly or those near retirement age.