Long-term care insurance is a type of insurance developed specifically to cover the costs of nursing homes, assisted living, home health care and other long-term care services. These services are usually not covered by traditional health insurance or Medicare.
The majority of policies sold today are comprehensive policies. They typically cover care and services in a variety of long-term care settings:
- Your home, including skilled nursing care, occupational, speech, physical and rehabilitation therapy, as well as help with personal care, such as bathing and dressing
- Many policies also cover some homemaker services, such as meal preparation or housekeeping
- Adult day health care centers
- Hospice care
- Respite care
- Assisted living facilities (also called residential care facilities)
- Alzheimer's special care facilities
- Nursing homes
What Isn't Covered by Long-Term Care Insurance
Like all insurance, long-term care policies have exclusions. These exclusions often follow state regulations on what exclusions are allowed. Long-term care policies typically exclude:
- Care provided by a family member
- Care provided outside the United States of America. However, a growing number of policies have an international care benefit.
- Care that results from war or act of war
- Care that results from an attempt at suicide or an intentionally self-inflicted injury
- Treatment for alcoholism or drug addiction
- Treatment provided in a government facility
- Services that are covered by Medicare or other government program (except Medicaid), or workers' compensation
To learn what exclusions apply to a policy that you are considering, check the Outline of Coverage you receive before you apply. If you already have a policy, you will still have an Outline of Coverage that lists any exclusions.