When you’re shopping for long-term care (LTC) insurance, certain tactics can reduce your policy cost.
- Reduce benefits. A policy that pays benefits as long as you need long-term care can be very expensive. Instead, a policy with a five-year maximum payout will be less expensive; few people will need more than five years of long-term care.
- Wait longer. You can cut costs by extending the period before you collect benefits. A policy with a 90-day waiting period will be less expensive than one with a 20-day wait, as long as you can afford to pay for 90 days from your own resources.
- Avoid automatic inflation increases. A policy that increases your benefit each year from $100 a day to $105 to $110, etc., will be very costly. Instead, a “future purchase option” will allow you to buy more coverage, if you need it, even if your health has declined.
