question for you all. Do you know of any insurance type policies that cover age care or long term care ?

[LAJ12345]

Do you know of any insurance type policies that cover age care or long term care ? I asked chatGPT if there is such a thing and it lists the following but won’t give me links to any actual products! I can’t find any in NZ even though it gives me a list of companies that sell them. Apparently news to them!

Coverage for Residential Care: This benefit covers the costs of residing in a nursing home, assisted living facility, or rest home. It can include expenses such as accommodation, meals, personal care, and assistance with activities of daily living.

Home Care Services: Many policies provide coverage for in-home care services, allowing individuals to receive care in the comfort of their own homes. This can include assistance with personal care, household tasks, and nursing services.

Personal Care Assistance: This benefit covers the costs of personal care services, such as help with bathing, dressing, toileting, grooming, and mobility assistance.Nursing Services:

Coverage for skilled nursing services, including medical care, wound care, medication management, and other healthcare services that may be required.

Rehabilitation Services: Some policies include coverage for rehabilitative services, such as physical therapy, occupational therapy, or speech therapy.

Respite Care: This benefit provides temporary relief for family caregivers by covering the cost of short-term care services, allowing the primary caregiver to take a break or attend to other responsibilities.

Cognitive Impairment Coverage: Some policies offer coverage specifically for cognitive impairments like Alzheimer's disease or dementia, which may include specialized care and support services.

[LindaP50]

In the US, long-term care insurance policies are sold by some insurance companies and some specific companies which sell only long-term care insurance policies. One big issue with long-term care policies is people paying into the policy for years, then when they need the policy and try to make use of the policy (for home care, etc.) the insurance companies make it hard to get approvals and many times are denied. People have been forced to hire an attorney to get the benefits of their long-term care insurance.

Basically, buyer beware. Read the fine print of the long-term care insurance policy. Ask questions and then rephrase the question and ask again as you may get a different answer. No joke.

aarp.org/caregiving/financi...

In US, long-term care companies - Genworth Insurance, Mutual of Omaha, New York Life to name a few. Here's and article: forbes.com/advisor/life-ins...

[KemptonD in reply to LindaP50]

Linda P50, the Forbes article says

'The average LTC insurance cost is $2,675 per year for a 55-year-old female and the average cost for a 55-year-old male is $1,700a year, according to the American Association for Long Term Care Insurance (AALTCI).'

Ha that doesn't seem fair. Does that mean men tend to fall, and break a neck, and never land in long term care, whereas women have a better sense for self preservation, breaking their falls, brittle boned or not?

[LAJ12345 in reply to LindaP50]

Thanks for the references. I will have a read.

Yes, we have had dealings with insurers with our large Christchurch earthquakes and the crunch comes when you actually try and claim!

[Boscoejean in reply to LindaP50]

yeah that or the company declares bankruptcy without fulfilling their part of the bargain or sells out to some other company to avoid going bankrupt

[LAJ12345 in reply to Boscoejean]

it’s always a problem with long term insurance. You pay for years before you get anything

[Boscoejean in reply to LAJ12345]

My mom had it and the name of the company change 5 times .When she went to assisted living it took several months before they approved her for the coverage but at least they did come through even though it took a long time. My brother called the company to ask why this was taking so long - he can be very persuasive.

[LindaP50 in reply to Boscoejean]

Persistence

[Boscoejean in reply to LAJ12345]

article about lack of long term care insurance in New Zealand

insurancebusinessmag.com/nz...

[LAJ12345 in reply to Boscoejean]

thanks, yes I eventually found that one. Looks like it doesn’t exist here.

[Jmellano in reply to LindaP50]

I had a long term care policy for many years. Premiums were very low (<$800 per year) because my company offered access to this type of policy as a benefit and I was in my late 40s when I signed up. I think insurance companies underestimated what they would need to payout over time and started to ask for big rate increases every year. Ny state limited the amounts of increase. Also, I shattered my elbow in 2020 and I tried to create a claim and was denied. The wording of contract was so complicated, as well. I cancelled the contract a few months ago. Not worth the premiums sine the premiums we’re increasing every year and insurance company is good at denying claims

[LAJ12345 in reply to Jmellano]

Oh, that is annoying paying all those years then not being able to claim. Thanks for the info

[KemptonD]

Here in the US, I purchased a long-term care contract through my employer, the Federal Government at around age 50. It is private insurance. I pay the total fixed premium. The premium was determined by my choice of a combination of daily benefit, lifetime benefit and inflation rate percentage benefit rise that I selected at the time. At least once in the past, the Insurer renegotiated the terms with my employer and we were given a choice; pay more or pay the same premium and receive less benefits. We've been told to expect another restructuring of the plan this year. It's still a good deal on paper. I haven't had to try and collect yet. Even among the Federal workforce, I would guess most employees have elected not to purchase Long Term Care Insurance. In some cases they may be covered by a Veteran's Affairs plan

The US Department of Veterans Affairs provides limited long-term care services with restrictions on who can receive them.

Medicaid The joint Federal government and State government program that pays for healthcare services for individuals who meet their State's poverty guidelines cannot be accessed until virtually all of your assets have been depleted to state-required levels and may provide little choice or control over the care you receive.

The Government probably needs to provide more backstop alternative options for LTC insurance so people who are not indigent but also can't risk making a lifetime of payments to a flaky insurer, even if they could find one.

[LAJ12345 in reply to KemptonD]

interesting, thanks. Maybe in NZ the welfare system makes the need for this insurance less. I can’t seem to find anyone that sells it here.