Some policies provide benefits for the lifetime of the insured. This term applies to the number of days the individual must be in a nursing home before the Long Term Care insurance product will begin paying its benefits. LTC plans offer many different elimination and waiting periods to choose from. The elimination period amounts to the same as a deductible and must be met before the plan will pay. This is one of the ways companies try to control levels of risk.
Most companies ask detailed health questions before deciding to insure the applicant.
The companies would rather decline your business than assume a bad risk. Premiums will resume when the patient leaves the nursing home. The typical waiver of premium feature will take effect after 90 days of a covered confinement. Due to inflation, a policy that pays a flat amount, without a provision for increase will not be sufficient to cover the same portion of the cost in 10 years. Inflation adjustments can be helpful but will cause the premiums to be higher.