5 popular long-term care insurance riders to know
Life is long and there is a good chance that as you get older you'll need some help taking care of yourself and your personal needs. Unfortunately, getting the kind of care you need can be expensive and many Americans simply won't be able to afford it. Luckily, there is a product that you can pay into now that will be there for you down the road – long-term care insurance.
Long-term care insurance works like any other insurance product; you pay premiums now in exchange for reimbursement at a later date which can be spent on various long-term care needs. Some services that long-term care insurance will cover include nurses, physical therapy, nursing homes and even hospice care.
When you purchase a long-term care insurance policy, there will likely be optional riders you can attach to your coverage. Some of these riders may be a good idea, but it's important to know what's exactly available in order to customize your policy.
Get started shopping for a long-term care insurance policy online today.
5 popular long-term care insurance riders
Before you pick which long-term care insurance riders you'll use, it's important you know how each of them work. Make sure to take the time and consider each one and if it makes sense for your situation. Remember that each rider will increase the cost of your premium, so pay attention to how much you can afford to pay each month.
Inflation protection rider
An inflation protection rider protects you against the prospect of rising costs that may appear between the time you purchased your policy and the time you used it. If current trends continue, the price of these services may have gone up significantly. This rider will increase your benefits payout by a small percentage, generally between 1% and 5%, each year.
Shop for a long-term care insurance policy online right now.
Spousal benefits rider
This rider allows you and your partner to couple your benefits together. This means that if one partner ends up using all of their benefits before the other partner has, the first partner can start dipping into the other pool of money. Additionally, if one partner dies before the other, the living partner gets to use all unused benefits from the partner who died.
Survivorship benefits rider
This is another rider that can be a good deal for married couples. Essentially, it means that if one partner dies after more than ten years of paying premiums while neither couple uses any benefits, the surviving partner doesn't have to pay premiums for the rest of the life. This is an especially popular rider among younger couples who may not need the benefits as quickly.
Return of premium rider
A return of premium riders allows the family of a policyholder to collect their paid out premiums after the insured person dies, given certain conditions are met.
For instance, one type of return of premium rider gives a person's survivors their premium back if they don't reach the age of 65. Others give it back regardless of age, but some only cover the difference between premiums paid and benefits claimed. Generally, the more likely it is that premiums will be returned, the more expensive the rider will be.
Cash benefits rider
A cash benefits rider allows you to take some of your long-term care insurance benefits in the form of cash, rather than direct payments to service providers. While in theory you can use these cash benefits for anything – even something completely unrelated to long-term care – the purpose of this rider is to help pay for services that might not be covered by your insurance.
Learn more about your long-term care insurance options here now.
The bottom line
Long-term care insurance is a good idea for anyone who is concerned about being able to pay for the care they need as they get older. While the product is relatively simple, there are a number of optional riders that potential users should consider when buying a long-term care insurance policy. Make sure you weigh the potential benefit of the rider against the monthly cost when choosing which riders to buy.
