Long Term Care Insurance Benefits and Cautions

Wisconsin happens to be among the most expensive states for long term care (LTC). If your annual income is less than $100,000 you should consider a Wisconsin long term care insurance policy, as this will be your only saving grace should the time come that you will need care.

Private nursing home rooms in Wisconsin have an average daily rate of $235 which is equivalent to an annual fee of $87,782. Assisted living facilities, on the other hand, charge $3,550 a month while those receiving in-home care pay $24 per hour for a home health aide to assist them with dressing, eating, bathing, toileting, continence, and transferring.

If an individual receiving in-home care needs somebody to clean and maintain his house as he is no longer capable of this, he will have to fork out $23 per hour for homemaker services. This is another form of LTC which should not be confused with the home health aide’s scope of work.

Homemaker services comprise of cooking and meal preparation, housecleaning, washing of laundry, and running errands among others.

Long term care has several partitions each focusing on a specific type of service so that all health care requirements can be addressed at the appropriate setting. For example, a person with chronic illness, debilitating disease or serious injury will have to receive care in a nursing home which is equipped with the necessary facilities and licensed medical practitioners to perform 24-hour care, therapy sessions, administer medications and medical tests.

Now a person who is not sick but requires assistance with the ADLs as a result of infirmity will probably be happy to receive care in the comforts of her home.

By staying attuned to your body’s needs you will be able to determine whether you’ll need skilled care or unskilled care in the future. Once you have this figured out already, it will be easier and faster to come up with an effective health care plan.

Wisconsin Long Term Care Insurance

Assuming you have already identified the LTC setting that you’ll need in the future, which type of LTCI policy are you going to buy for your coverage?

Before you can determine this you have to familiarize yourself first with the different types of LTCI policies which are allowed to be sold in Wisconsin. These are comprehensive policies, nursing home policies, and home health care policies.

All three LTCI policies should comply with the minimum standards which the Wisconsin Office of the Commissioner of Insurance has set, and some of these are:

• Each policy should provide at least one year of benefits

• Minimum daily benefit should be $60

• Insured persons should need assistance in three or more ADLs or be cognitively impaired

• Provide inflation protection that will increase the maximum benefit amount

You can also opt for the Wisconsin LTCI Partnership Program and have the opportunity to qualify for Medicaid assistance should you need ongoing care after having exhausted your benefits. Furthermore, you’ll be able to keep a portion of or all of your assets because this type of policy bears the asset protection feature.

Securing a Wisconsin long term care insurance policy is, indeed, very important and should be done early in life. However, you have to understand all aspects of this product before investing in it so find time to speak with a licensed LTCI representative in your area for extensive information.