Getting Long-Term Care Insurance
If I have pre-existing health problems, can I get long-term care insurance?
You can qualify for long-term care insurance even if you have pre-existing health conditions. But it depends on what kind of health conditions we are talking about. For example, if you have a neuromuscular condition like MS or Parkinson's, you will probably be completely uninsurable. On the other hand, if you have had cancer or heart disease or you had a back surgery and you fully recovered from those conditions, the insurance companies look the other way and they say no problem, you are insurable. So pre-existing conditions can be very important, and the most important thing that they are looking for is that you are active. They don't want to see a person who stays home 24/7. They like people that get out, go to the garden, travel, see their grandchildren, the kinds of things that make them look like they are healthy, well-adjusted people. Those are the kinds of things that an insurance company will look for to determine if you are really insurable or not.
Can I buy a long-term care insurance policy for someone else?
Someone can pay the premiums on someone else's insurance policy, but ultimately the person who is being insured has to sign the application, answer all the medical questions, and qualify for the insurance. Then, if you are a fortunate individual to have a son or daughter or someone else in your family who wants you covered and they are willing to pay the premium and its an absolute essential thing, why not do it? In many circumstances, businesses pay for the premiums for long term care insurance. It's a very popular perk. As an example, I had a CPA firm recently, they have about 1 CPAs and another 6 or 7 office staff, the owner of the CPA firm said that he wants long term insurance on all his partners and his employees and we put in a group plan. The employer is paying 1% of the premium of the insurance. It's a perk to retain the employee that stay at the company and it's also something to attract new employees to the company.
How does a change in my family status affect my long-term case insurance?
The change in family status does not normally change anything about your long-term care insurance with the exception of: When a husband and wife both apply for a long-term care insurance policy at the same time, the insurance company is so happy that they'll usually give both of them a 25 percent discount on the premium. Many times the insurance company will say, "This is the premium for one of you alone, but if both of you apply, we'll give you a 25 percent discount." The insurance companies give a discount because they're getting two people in one sitting, they're underwriting two people, they're getting more business. It's an efficient way of marketing; they figure they might as well pass on the savings to the client.
