What does long term care insurance cover?
As mentioned above, long term care insurance provides coverage for costs associated with the services and support that patients with illnesses, injuries, or disabilities might need in order to perform basic, everyday activities including:
- walking
- eating
- bathing
- using the bathroom
- administering medication
- preventing unsafe behavior
- physical or occupational therapy
- shopping and running errands
- providing transportation
- household maintenance
You may notice that long term care insurers divide these services into two categories - skilled care and custodial care.
- Skilled care is care that can only be performed by licensed medical personnel, such as physicians or nurses.
- Custodial care is care that can be performed safely and reasonably by anyone, even if they are not a trained, licensed professional.
Ultimately, however, most long term care insurance policies cover both skilled and custodial care, so long as they are performed by a skilled care provider.
