Colorado Long Term Care Insurance
Colorado long term care insurance pays benefits toward the cost of services needed by people who need help with the activities associated with daily living. Long term care insurance in CO is not just for seniors; younger people can also find themselves in circumstances where they need help with bathing, dressing, using the washroom, or walking. If you have suffered a traumatic injury or been diagnosed with a neurological disorder, having long term care insurance in place for a Colorado resident means that you can get the help you need without having to rely on your own resources to cover the expenses.
Colorado Long Term Care Insurance: Paying For The Cost Of Your Care
If you don't have long term care coverage in place, you will need to cover the cost of care yourself. If you don't have the means to pay for it, then you may be eligible for assistance through Medicare. The problem with taking this approach is that Medicare will only cover the cost after you have exhausted most of your own assets.
Are you prepared to liquidate all of your assets to pay for the cost of long term care? If you have worked hard to own a home and other property, it doesn't make a lot of sense to ignore this part of your financial planning and take the chance that you won't ever need help. A better move is to accept the fact that you may well need help at some point and plan for that possibility.
Colorado Long Term Care Insurance: How Much Will Care Cost?
The cost of long term care in Colorado will depend on the type of care you need and where you live. If you are able to receive some care in your home, you may pay around $30 per hour for help. A stay in a long term care facility will cost somewhere in the neighborhood of $150 per day. (Over time, these figures will increase, so you will not be able to use today's numbers when you are trying to figure out how much long term care will cost in the future. They are to be used as guidelines only.)
You will probably find that seeking care in a large metro area will be more expensive than in rural parts of the state. Long term care facilities may charge a certain rate for room and board, but add on other costs for such items as oxygen, therapy, medical equipment, and the like.
Your costs will also depend on the types of services a particular long term care facility offers. Think about the difference between spending the night at a hotel as opposed to a motel. A hotel offers many services to its guests that a motel simply doesn't, although both of them are comfortable places to spend the night. You also need to keep in mind that the cost of providing these services is reflected in the amount you are being charged to stay there - whether you use all of them or not.
Colorado Long Term Care Insurance: How Does It Work?
A Colorado long term care insurance policy does not work in the same way as a health insurance policy does. It doesn’t pay a certain percentage of the cost of care or pay the full cost less a copayment that the insured is responsible for. Instead, long term care insurance pays a certain amount for your care.
You buy long term care insurance coverage before you get to the point where you need it. The idea is that you pay premiums over several years and by the time you get to the point when you need care, the company has the funds to pay benefits under the policy you have selected. Since you may not need care until you are a senior, keep in mind that the money you are paying out in today's dollars will be used to pay for care in the future, when it will cost more to provide these services.
The plan you choose may pay a per diem rate for your long term care costs, and you will need to pay any cost over the amount your plan pays for yourself. The lower rate you choose for your policy coverage, the less you will pay in premiums. However, you need to think very carefully about how much you are willing to contribute on an out-of-pocket basis to the cost of your long term care. It may be a better idea to pay a bit more in premiums now and protect your assets than to try to save a few dollars now only to get a nasty surprise when you are already feeling vulnerable.
Colorado Long Term Care Insurance: How Companies Set Premium Costs
When you apply for long term insurance coverage in Colorado, the company will likely have some questions for you relating to your health. If you have a health condition which indicates that you are more likely to need long term care, either your application will be turned down or you will be charged a higher rate for coverage.
The next thing the insurance company will do is to look at statistics to project how you will pay premiums into the plan before the company will need to start paying out benefits. If you consider that the majority of policyholders are in their 80s before they need long term care, waiting until you after you have retired to buy insurance for this purpose means that you will be paying more than if you made the decision to buy in your 50's.
Colorado Long Term Care Insurance: Doing Your Homework
When you are shopping for long term care insurance in CO, you need to keep in mind that each company offers different products. One company can offer a number of different options to consumers as well. Take the time to examine the coverage each plan offers in detail so that you understand exactly you are buying before you decide to act. That way, you know you are getting the amount and type of coverage that makes the most sense to you.
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You can get started comparing Colorado long term care insurance policies right now. For your convenience, we have provided a free CO long term care insurance quote tool at the top of this page so that you can compare offers from competing companies. Why don't you click on it right now?