LTC Basics - Other Options

There are a number of other options you may have depending upon which company you are working with. Some of these may be standard on some policies and additional on others.

Restoration of Benefits - This is not usually a very expensive addition. They way it works is if you are eligible for benefits and use some of your pool of money and then get better and are not eligible for benefits for 180 days, then the amount of coverage you used is restored to your pool of money.

Survivorship - For a couple, this could mean free long term care insurance for one of you. If you have both had a policy (same type and same company) for 10 years and you have no claims in those first 10 years, then when one of you passes away, the survivor's policy is paid in full.

Spousal Waiver of Premium - Most policies have a waiver of premium that says when you are receiving benefits, you don't pay your premium. With this option, when your spouse is receiving benefits, you don't pay your premium either. Both premiums are waived when one person is receiving care.

Shared Policy - This varies widely across companies, but basically how it works is that you each have a pool of money to use. If you use all of yours, then you can access your partner's pool of money. This gives you access to more benefits that you would have had on your own. The downside is that you are taking that amount of benefit away from your spouse.

Return of Premium - There are multiple versions of this. The basic one says that if you die and have not used benefits that amount to the premium you paid, you would get the difference back (to your beneficiary). This ensures you never waste your money on the coverage.