Long-term care insurance covers consumers who are in need of assistance to complete daily activities, usually, for an extended period of time due to illness, age, or disability. Long-term care can be administered in multiple settings, including nursing homes, in-home care, and personal or adult daycare.
Many believe only elderly individuals require this type of care, but this is a misconception. About 40% of those who do require long-term care are under the age of 65.
To qualify for these benefits, you must be unable to perform two of the six activities of daily living (ADL), including dressing, bathing, eating, toileting, maintaining continence, and transferring from bed to chair. Additionally, a medical professional must evaluate your condition, expecting it to last at least 90 days.
Long-term care insurance has other benefits, including protecting your savings while preserving your independence. Because long-term care expenses can add up quickly, this type of insurance can be an excellent way to cover care costs without depleting your other assets.
We recommend you carefully review your long-term care insurance policy with your agent or financial advisor, especially the fine print. Each person’s situation will be different, and you do not want to have too high of a deductible, pay for coverage you may not need, or end up not having enough coverage when you need it most. In addition to reading the fine print, we advise you to thoroughly review the policy’s premiums, benefit limits, deductibles as well as coverage specifics.
Mutual of Omaha offers two different types of long-term care insurance plans:
- MutualCare Secure Solution-this plan is recommended for consumers who are looking for a simple policy that offers easy-to-understand benefit choices.
- MutualCare Custom Solution -this plan is geared towards consumers who want a policy that they can tailor to their needs.
Both options provide coverage for home health care, assisted living, and nursing home care. There appears to be only one discount option for spouses who enroll in the same type of plan, yet there may be more options available upon completing the company’s online quote application.
Optional riders with Mutual of Omaha's LTCI include inflation protection, shared care, and alternate care.
Because it is a mutual insurance marketplace, it is held accountable by its policyholders instead of Wall Street or private investors. Its flexible long-term care (LTC) insurance plans stand out by featuring more than the average share of inflation protection options, benefit limits, and elimination periods.
The company currently offers two policies that share some of the same great features, such as cash benefits with no elimination periods and no cap on premium allowances, yet differ in their degree of customization.
Anyone looking to avoid cookie-cutter policies and purchase a truly reliable long-term care insurance product that they can tailor to their exact needs will find Mutual of Omaha among the best options in the current LTC market.
Besides its LTC insurance policies, the company also offers other insurance products, including individual life, disability, critical illness, Medicare supplement, dental, hospital and work site insurance plans as well as mutual funds and annuities.
Employer insurance plans are also available, including group health, life, dental, disability, work site and prescription as well as group 401K pension plans and annuities.