The Virginia Department for the Aging located at 1610 Forest Avenue, Suite 100, Richmond, VA 23229 offers valuable information regarding long-term insurance care.
Long-term care insurance is designed to assist individuals with some or all of the costs of medical and personal care provided in the home, an assisted living facility, a nursing home, or through a community program such as adult day-care.
Long-term care insurance often provides coverage for costs associated with personal care when the covered individual is unable to perform activities of daily living such as bathing, eating, dressing or toileting. Long-term care insurance may also assist people in need of skilled care because of a prolonged medical condition, a disability or a cognitive impairment, such as Alzheimer’s disease.
Some long-term care insurance policies provide more coverage than others. Before you buy long-term care insurance, decide what coverage you need and can afford. Long-term care insurance can help to safeguard your assets and protect your financial independence, but it can be expensive.
Depending on your level of income and the value of your assets, long-term care insurance may or may not be the most appropriate option for your long-term care financing. It is also important to consider the rising costs of health care when purchasing long-term care insurance. In Virginia, these policies must offer inflation protection.
There can be no requirement for a prior hospital or skilled nursing home stay as a trigger for benefits:
- All pre-existing conditions must be covered after six months
- Policies must be guaranteed renewable or noncancellable
- Portability is required for all group contracts.
- Inflation protection coverage must be offered.
- After age 65, no attained age rating is allowed.
- Policies must provide benefits for a minimum of 12 months.
- Policies may not use waivers or riders to exclude coverage for pre-existing conditions.
- Policies cannot require that home health care be provided by an RN or LPN.
- All policies must have a 30-day “free-look” provision.
- No policy may exclude or limit benefits based on Alzheimer’s disease, senility, dementia, organic brain disorder, or other similar diagnoses.
- An option for the insurer to notify an individual designated by the insured before a policy lapses or terminates is available with long-term care policies.
- Rate revisions must be approved by the Bureau of Insurance prior to implementation.
- No new waiting period for pre-existing conditions is required when replacing policies.
For more information:
Virginia Department for the Aging
1610 Forest Avenue, Suite 100, Richmond, VA 23229
Phone (local): (804) 662-9333, Toll Free 1-800-552-3402 (Nationwide Voice/TTY)
FAX: (804) 662-9354
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