Shopper's Guide To Long Term Care Insurance

Cognitive Impairment – A deficiency in a person’s short- or long-term memory; orientation as to person, place and time; deductive or abstract reasoning; or judgment as it relates to safety awareness.

Community-Based Services – Services designed to help older people stay independent and in their own homes.

Continence – The ability to maintain control of bowel and bladder function; or when unable to maintain control of these functions, the ability to perform associated personal hygiene (including caring for catheter or colostomy bag).

Continuing Care Retirement Communities (CCRC) – A retirement complex that offers a broad range of services and levels of care.

Continuous Payment Option – A premium payment option that requires you to pay premiums until you trigger your benefits. Premiums are usually paid on a monthly, quarterly, semi-annual or annual basis. The policy is not cancelable except when premiums aren’t paid; however, the insurance company can increase premiums on an entire class of policies. Premiums are usually the lowest available.

Custodial Care (Personal Care) – Care to help individuals meet personal needs such as bathing, dressing and eating. Someone without professional training may provide care.

Daily Benefit – The amount of insurance benefit in dollars a person chooses to buy for long-term care expenses.

Dementia – Deterioration of intellectual faculties due to a disorder of the brain.

Disability Method – Method of paying benefits that only requires you to meet the benefit eligibility criteria. Once you do, you receive your full daily benefit.

Dressing – Putting on and taking off all items of clothing and any necessary braces, fasteners or artificial limbs.

Eating – Feeding oneself by getting food into the body from a receptacle (such as a plate, cup or table) or by a feeding tube or intravenously.

Elimination Period – A type of deductible; the length of time the individual must pay for covered services before the insurance company will begin to make payments. The longer the elimination period in a policy, the lower the premium. Sometimes also called a “waiting period.”

Expense-Incurred Method – Method of paying benefits where the insurance company must decide if you are eligible for benefits and if your claim is for eligible services. Your policy or certificate will pay benefits only when you receive eligible services. Once you have incurred an expense for an eligible service, benefits are paid either to you or your provider. The coverage will pay for the lesser of the expense you incurred or the dollar limit of your policy. Most policies bought today pay benefits using the expense-incurred method.

Extended Term Benefits – Full benefits for a reduced time period, applicable for use during a certain period of time. If not used in a set number of years after the lapse, then you lose it. Once the period has expired, the contract terminates.

Guaranteed Renewable – When a policy cannot be cancelled by an insurance company and must be renewed when it expires unless benefits have been exhausted. The company cannot change the coverage or refuse to renew the coverage for other than nonpayment of premiums (including health conditions and/or marital or employment status). In a guaranteed renewable policy, the insurance company may increase premiums, but only on an entire class of policies, not just on your policy.

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