Long Term Care Insurance

What is Long Term Care

Long Term Care is the assistance individuals need when they are unable to care for themselves and need help with Activities of Daily Living (ADLs) - bathing, dressing, transferring, toileting, continence (control of bodily functions), and eating - or they have severe cognitive impairment such as Alzheimer's disease. The need for long term care can result from an accident, chronic illness or short-term disability, or from advance age.

Many people do not know about or understand all the long term care options that are available. The following are brief descriptions of the major types of long term care, the kinds of service you may need, the ways of paying for long term care and how to find the best services and facilities:

Home care can be given in your own home by family members, friends, volunteers, and/or paid professionals. This type of care can range from help with shopping to nursing care. Another type of care that can be given at home is hospice care for terminally ill people.

Medigap is Medicare Supplement Insurance that helps fill "gaps" in Original Medicare and is sold by private companies. Original Medicare pays for much, but not all, of the cost for covered health care services and supplies. A Medicare Supplement Insurance (Medigap) policy can help pay some of the remaining health care costs, like:

• Copayments
• Coinsurance
• Deductibles

Some Medigap policies also cover services that Original Medicare doesn't cover, like medical care when you travel outside the U.S. If you have Original Medicare and you buy a Medigap policy, here's what happens:

• Medicare will pay its share of the Medicare-approved amount for covered health care costs.
• Then, your Medigap policy pays its share.

8 things to know about Medigap policies

1. You must have Medicare Part A and Part B.
2. A Medigap policy is different from a Medicare Advantage Plan. Those plans are ways to get Medicare benefits, while a Medigap policy only supplements your Original Medicare benefits.
3. You pay the private insurance company a monthly premium for your Medigap policy. You pay this monthly premium in addition to the monthly Part B premium that you pay to Medicare.
4. A Medigap policy only covers one person. If you and your spouse both want Medigap coverage, you'll each have to buy separate policies.
5. You can buy a Medigap policy from any insurance company that's licensed in your state to sell one.
6. Any standardized Medigap policy is guaranteed renewable even if you have health problems. This means the insurance company can't cancel your Medigap policy as long as you pay the premium.
7. Some Medigap policies sold in the past cover prescription drugs. But, Medigap policies sold after January 1, 2006 aren't allowed to include prescription drug coverage. If you want prescription drug coverage, you can join a Medicare Prescription Drug Plan (Part D).
8. It's illegal for anyone to sell you a Medigap policy if you have a Medicare Advantage Plan, unless you're switching back to Original Medicare.

Medigap policies don't cover everything

Medigap policies generally don't cover long-term care, vision or dental care, hearing aids, eyeglasses, or private-duty nursing.

Insurance plans that aren't Medigap

Some types of insurance aren't Medigap plans, they include:

• Medicare Advantage Plans (like an HMO, PPO, or Private Fee-for-Service Plan)
• Medicare Prescription Drug Plans
• Medicaid
• Employer or union plans, including the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program (FEHBP)
• TRICARE
• Veterans' benefits
• Long-term care insurance policies
• Indian Health Service, Tribal, and Urban Indian Health plans

Dropping your entire Medigap policy (not just the drug coverage)

You may want a completely different Medigap policy (not just your old Medigap policy without the prescription drug coverage). Or, you might decide to switch to a Medicare Advantage Plan that offers prescription drug coverage.

If you decide to drop your entire Medigap policy, you need to be careful about the timing. When you join a new Medicare drug plan, you pay a late enrollment penalty if one of these applies:

• You drop your entire Medigap policy and the drug coverage wasn't creditable prescription drug coverage
• You go 63 days or more in a row before your new Medicare drug coverage begins
• Call your State Health Insurance Assistance Program (SHIP).
• Call your State Insurance Department.

Find out more about Medigap policies by following this link to Medicare.Gov What's Medicare Supplement Insurance (Medigap)?