<p>says it’s guaranteed, no underwriting process at all, has anyone applied for LTCI through their employer? the plan offered is through Genworth. I’m doing the happy dance here, having hard time believing there’s no medical screening at all?</p>
<p>Yes, I’ve seen it offered with no medical screening during the initial period. We’d been paying for a private policy for DH for some years (he is older), and just when I was getting ready to get a policy, too, my employer offered a plan. I jumped on it. No medical issues, but the premiums were quite reasonable, the plan was good, and it was nice not to have to go in for a medical exam.</p>
<p>thanks NYMom…great to hear. I had tried to get LTC on my own but due to a medical issue I was denied, so I am very fortunate</p>
<p>I’ve never heard of LTCI being offered by an employer, but my first thought is – grab it! But my second thought is, check it out. What happens if you leave the employer for any reason? Is the policy cancelled? Could you keep it if you pick up the premiums and if so, how much would they be? And could you keep up with the probable increases? [Is</a> long-term care insurance worth the price?](<a href=“http://money.cnn.com/2011/01/24/pf/long-term-care_insurance.moneymag/index.htm]Is”>http://money.cnn.com/2011/01/24/pf/long-term-care_insurance.moneymag/index.htm)</p>
<p>Check into the details of the benefit: how much does it pay, under what circumstances, and for how long? Also check to see if it has an inflation rider.</p>
<p>My parents bought policies many years ago, and it was the best financial move they ever made. And that was with them paying the full cost.</p>
<p>Agreed- check to see if you can carry the premium if you leave. The whole point of LTC is to have it when you need it, which could be after you retire. </p>
<p>We just (finally) bought LTCI after thinking about it for eons. We got a Genworth plan just (literally a few days) before they changed the plan they offered. I’ve forgotten the difference betweenthe plans, but I am gald we got in under the wire with the previous plan. </p>
<p>I was going to suggest you pay close attention to what the plan offers, but if you otherwise would not qualify for LTC, baybe it doesn’t matter. Congrats!</p>
<p>This is a great opportunity for you. My father applied for LTCI about 15 years ago and was declined for health reasons. He kept working until he was 80. In his last year of work, John Hancock offered a similar deal to all employees at his firm, but only if they signed up within 30 days. Dad did. Within a year he was retired and collecting on the policy. My dad says it was the best thing he ever did.</p>
<p>On the subject of medical clearance - H & I recently bought our own LTCI policies. The agent we were dealing with said that about 30% of all applications are now denied for health reasons, up from 15% about 5 years ago. As it was, I was almost denied (and actually placed into a more expensive class) because of a very minor incident. My doctor wrote a very persuasive note to the insurance company. The insurance companies will look for any reason to deny coverage.</p>
<p>Yes, since you are most likely to need this coverage when you are older and retired, I would ask:</p>
<p>What happens to the policy when you retire?</p>
<p>What happens to the premium once you retire?</p>
<p>thanks all…the plan is comparable to one I tried to obtain on the individual market. </p>
<p>$200 daily benefit, $365,000 total coverage, automatic 5% increase for life, informal care included and home/community care 100% of daily benefit. The monthly premium is $229.</p>
<p>the employee does pay the full cost, the advantage of group LTCI through your employer is that it is guaranteed, with no medical underwriting. </p>
<p>the plan is portable, so you can take it upon leaving the company or retiring…but I do need to ask if it’s guaranteed renewable for life, and if the same group rate continues.</p>
<p>Employer offers LTC, but I buy it privately because if my job ends, so does the benefit.</p>
<p>just confirmed that the same group rate continues upon leaving the company or retiring, and it’s guaranteed not to increase for 5 yrs. a LTC professional asked me to check if it was guaranteed renewable, they said it is as long as premiums are paid, no future medical underwriting…</p>
<p>Also, confirm that it provides the protection you think it does and will provide the benefits you BELIEVE you are getting for the premiums. Sometimes the slick brochures make folks think as soon as they need any help, the policy will kick in & provide benefits. My aunt had a policy that she paid for many decades. She had terminal lung cancer. The policy only provided benefits the very last month of her life, tho she needed help for many, many months prior to that. Policies are governed by the terms of the contract. Also be sure the company you are purchasing from has financial strength & will likely be around when you need to get your benefits. Insurers have ratings based on their strength.</p>
<p>Make sure that you have an inflation guarantee in the policy. Health care costs are skyrocketing. Make sure that the policy covers the costs that WILL BE not a static amount that will not cover enough later on in life.</p>
<p>What happens if you move to a new state? We looked into LTCI a few years ago and at the time the policies were for THIS state and if we moved…they would not have covered us. Maybe it was just the type of plan we were looking at.</p>
<p>ShesOnHerWay, this isn’t medical insurance, and doesn’t cover health care costs.</p>
<p>^ Correct. This policy is for in home care and long term care for a certain number of days (or a specific $ amount). These costs are going up too and the policy should have an inflation factor inclusion.</p>
<p>^yes, the policy has a automatic 5% inflation factor…</p>
<p>Himom~ sorry to hear your aunt’s policy didn’t provide the care she needed…was it because the company said she didn’t meet the criteria of not performing tasks of daily living?</p>
<p>ShesOnHerWay, I commented because you had mentioned health care inflation.</p>
<p>Does the lifetime cap increase along with the inflation increase, or just the daily amount?</p>
<p>Our (older) Genworth policies have not had a premium increase in the nine years we’ve had them – though of course they can increase them any year in the future. I liked it better when they were part of GE, but that wasn’t a choice. Since you can’t get through the medical underwriting process, this seems like a good plan.</p>
<p>My aunt was not unable to perform activities of daily living, she just did them slower and slower, with more and more pain. She & we were pretty disgusted that she had to fight so hard to get ANY payout after the decades of paying in.</p>
<p>Be sure you understand whether there are increases, what they are based on and tied to and what they cover/don’t cover.</p>
<p>^ HImom–that does sound awful…</p>
<p>arabrab–yes, the lifetime cap and the daily amount increase with the automatic 5% inflation rider</p>
<p>honestly, I was so distressed not being able to get LTCI in the individual market, I am very pleased to have this opportunity</p>