Long Term Care Insurance

Modern medical care often enables patients to achieve ages heretofore deemed impossible. But, there usually comes a time when relatives and friends are simply not able to care for an ill person, or one enduring the disabilities that come with advanced age. The next step is usually professional care – either at-home care, in an assisted living facility or in a nursing home. Because of the level of care required, personal resources and insurance benefits are quickly used up. Contrary to a popular misconception, Medicare doesn’t cover the cost of custodial care, and Medicaid comes to the aid only of the indigent.

Roughly 9 million Americans have purchased long-term care insurance (LTCi) policies and coverage continues to expand each year. Nonetheless, the general lack of knowledge about long-term care (LTC) leaves many Americans confused, frustrated, and ultimately unprepared to plan for their long term care needs.

NAIFA Health & Employee Benefits believes that private LTCi policies can and should play a more significant role in the financing of long-term care services.

Tax incentives have long been recognized as a powerful tool in influencing Americans’ buying decisions. Congress enacted LTC insurance tax clarifications in 1997, which removed barriers to the purchase of long-term care insurance. NAIFA Health & Employee Benefits believes Congress should now take the next step and create strong tax incentives to purchase long-term care insurance, and, to be fair, help care giving situations today where the purchase of insurance would come too late. Tax incentives for the purchase of long-term care insurance coverage would help ensure Americans can maintain their independence and protect them from devastating long-term care costs. More importantly, this would demonstrate the government's commitment to private coverage as an alternative for Americans to use for funding their own future LTC needs, lessen reliance on scarce public dollars and help promote individual responsibility.