What Is The Elimination Period For Long Term Care Insurance? 
The elimination period for Long Term Care Insurance is the number of days you must wait before you can start collecting on the policy . If your claim was preceded by a hospital stay that qualified you for nursing home care paid for my Medicare , you will have 20 `` free '' days in the nursing home , followed by up to 80 days where you pay a co-pay -LRB- currently $ 148/day -RRB- . So an elimination period of at least 30 days may not end up costing you too much out of pocket , anyway , and the longer the elimination period , the lower your Long Term Care Insurance premium . 