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Long-Term Care Insurance Saving Money Ways to save money: Only insure what is necessary Skilled nursing care Intermediate care Elimination periods Custodial care Home healthcare Respite care Benefits Long-term care insurance policies are now available that provide coverage for skilled nursing care, intermediate care, and custodial care. Coverage may include home healthcare and even respite care to relieve family members who are caring for a loved one at home. Of course you can also buy a policy that provides all of these coverages or just one of them. Make sure that you are only paying for what you need.   Example Jeff was looking for a long-term care policy. Seeing how expensive the comprehensive policy would be, he looked for ways to save money. After factoring in the amount of his pension (guaranteed for life), his Social Security and other assets, he figured that if he received care in his home, he could afford to pay for that care out of his income. It was only if he had to go into a skilled nursing care facility that he would not be able to pay. So he decided to protect himself from the catastrophic event, and he purchased a long-term care policy that would only pay for a skilled nursing care or custodial care. This example also can be applied to benefit amounts. If Jeff saw that he had the income and the assets to pay for some or most of a long-term care stay, he could choose to buy a long-term care policy for a specific benefit amount (e.g. $142,000). Whenever he used up that amount his coverage would end. But the point is, that amount would get him through almost three years of a skilled nursing care stay. And since the average stay is just under three years, he found this acceptable. You can also save money in the policy by extending the elimination period. Just make sure you can afford to pay for the care during that period. The easiest way to save money in long-term care insurance is to clearly understand your needs and only buy a policy for those needs. < PREVIOUS NEXT> #38599