For Businesses
Long-Term Care
Long-term care, also known as LTC, is supportive care for people who have chronic health conditions and need help with the basic “work” of talking care of themselves. In the LTC world, this type of work is known as the “activities of daily living” (ADL) and “instrumental activities of daily living” (IADL). These activities include:
Activities of Daily Living (ADL)
- Bathing
- Eating
- Dressing
- Toileting
- Transferring (i.e. bed into chair)
- Continence: Bowel/Bladder Control
Instrumental Activities of Daily Living (IADL)
- Shopping
- Cooking
- Housework
- Managing Finances
- Arranging Healthcare Appointments
- Supervision of Personal Safety
- Using and Managing Transportation
Typically, a person must be limited in at least two of the daily activities in order to qualify for LTC services through service providers and insurance companies. For people with dementia who need supervision, service providers and insurance companies sometimes also consider IADL.
Most insurance plans don’t cover LTC services.
Ordinary insurance, including Medicare, doesn’t usually cover long-term care. But because we’re all living longer than ever, it makes sense to become familiar with LTC now, before you actually need it. You’ll want to think about what types of care you may want for yourself and your partner or other family members before you consider purchasing a long-term care policy.
LTC services can be very expensive when purchased out-of-pocket but, LTC insurance can help pay for many services. That’s why more and more people are considering additional ways to finance LTC, including purchasing LTC insurance.
We’re here to help you make LTC decisions.
At GOODCARE.com ®, we answer some common questions about LTC in our FAQ section of this site. You may also want to download the .PDF file, “The Key Features to Shop for in a Long-Term Care Insurance Policy.” It offers a handy checklist and tips on how to shop for a long-term care insurance policy. Also, we’ve put together a collection of “Helpful Online Resources” with active Web links, many of which are related to LTC. Both of these tools are available as free downloads in our GOODCARE.com Tool Kit™.