The percentage of people who have purchased life insurance has currently reached a figure that is lower than it has been in half a century, as many people debate whether or not the coverage is worth their money when they are already tightening their belts in an economy that continues to struggle in its recovery.
Life insurance differs from standard medical insurance in that it provides coverage for individuals who require assistance with their daily living activities. For example, in the case of a broken shoulder or hip, dementia, or another condition that would stop someone from being able to function without help.
The typical annual life insurance premiums usually fall within the range of $1000 to $5000, depending on an individual’s sex, health, age, and the size of the coverage being purchased. Though this sounds straightforward at an outward glance, the actual details of a policy cause many peoples’ heads to spin.
This makes calculating the requirements for a long-term care policy rather challenging, and makes it harder to decide whether or not a policy is actually needed in the first place. Although many people can benefit from life insurance protection, even those in the business of selling the products acknowledge that not everyone requires this type of coverage.
According to the American Association for Long-Term Care Insurance executive director, Jesse Slome, “Long-term care is a universal issue facing all Americans who are getting older. But long-term-care insurance is not a universal solution.”
Equally, it is important to recognize the fact that at some point in their lifetimes, half of all Americans will require some kind of long term care service. Equally, though, according to Amy Pahl, a Milliman Inc. consulting actuary, about one in every three of those individuals will either recover or die before the 90 day deductible period has passed.
Therefore, it is very important for people to understand their coverage and how it will be able to help them should the time come that they require it. This will help to ensure that they have purchased a policy if they can benefit from it, and that they have invested in the right plan to cover their needs.
