How to Get Long-Term Care Benefits if You Can't Qualify for Traditional Coverage

While long-term care insurance is widely considered to be the best way to protect yourself against the costs associated with nursing home or skilled care, those who cannot meet underwriting requirements have another alternative.

Difficulty: Challenging

Instructions

1. First, you must determine whether you are eligible for traditional long-term care insurance. If you have applied for coverage with several different carriers and been turned down, then an annuity with a long-term care rider may be a viable alternative.

2. Contact your local broker or agent to get a quote on this type of annuity. There are a handful of carriers that offer fixed annuities with a built-in long-term care rider. This rider will pay out monthly long-term care benefits that go above and beyond the standard annuity payout, similar to an insurance policy.

3. Be sure to coordinate the purchase of this type of annuity into your overall financial plan. Determine how much coverage you need and how much you have available to invest Remember that you will be paid a set rate of interest according to the annuity contract, so if you end up not needing the coverage, then you will actually receive a tangible rate of return on your money.

Tips & Warnings

• Remember that the underwriting is MUCH more forgiving with this type of coverage than it will be from any conventional long-term care policy. Only minimal medical information is required in order to qualify for coverage under a long-term care annuity.
• The benefits provided by long-term care annuities may not be quite as comprehensive as traditional long-term care policies. If you qualify for traditional coverage and feel that you may need benefits that are not covered by the annuity rider, then a standard long-term care policy may be more appropriate for you.