ATTORNEY NEWSLETTER
The Risky Business of Buying Insurance
What is Long Term Care Insurance?
Insurance is supposed to protect you from risk. By paying your premiums over the years, you ensure that when something bad finally does happen to you, you’ll have the funds necessary to assist you and remedy the situation. Some people build strong relationships with their brokers and the company who issued their policy, often a major insurer like Transamerica, Genworth, or John Hancock. But too often, it turns out that paying for insurance is a risk in itself, since it’s often a gamble whether your claim will be denied. And as in all gambles, it’s always the house that wins.
Too often, insurance companies try to save money by denying claims that policyholders were assured they were covered for. This is especially true for long term care (LTC) insurance. Designed to help defray the mounting medical and nursing home costs that accompany old age, this insurance is often seen as a safety net for seniors without the resources of their own to pay thousands each month for nursing home care. Thus, when claims are denied, it can throw a senior’s financial plans into disarray, drain their dwindling assets, and compel sometimes struggling families to meet the uncovered costs. Policies are often written or sold deceptively, and salespeople may make claims that the policy can’t back up.
Nursing Homes, Retirement Communities, and Long Term Care Insurance
Long Term Care insurance is supposed to be a safety net, but in reality it may be closer to a snare, draining a senior’s funds over the years, and offering them nothing in return. Some policies cover only a few months of care in a retirement community, and when the clock runs out, they are left with the options of dying to save money or living and spending money you might wish to pass on to your children. Continuing care is expensive, but those who’ve planned for it by paying for insurance shouldn’t have to worry about the cost.
There are few easy answers when it comes to old age and end of life care, but seniors should at the very least be able to count on their long term care insurance, which they may have put tens of thousands of dollars into by the time they need it, to help them pay for the cost of a nursing home or retirement community. Being able to afford to stay in a skilled nursing or assisted living facility can often make all the difference for the care and comfort of a senior.
Major Sellers of Long Term Care Insurance Include:
- John Hancock
- Transamerica
- Genworth
- Metlife
- Conseco
- UNUM
- Aegon
- Prudential
Contact Us
If you believe that you or a loved one may have been the victim of an improperly administered long term care insurance policy, contact the Evans Law Firm at (415) 441-8669, or online at www.evanslaw.com. Our firm handles insurance fraud, elder abuse, nursing home abuse, and whistleblower law.
