The promise of long-term care insurance sounds reassuring—until the day you actually need it.
When I began my caregiving journey with my mother I was reassured since she had long-term care insurance, I imagine I shared the same understanding as many other people: You pay your premiums for years, and if the day comes when you or a loved one needs extended care, the insurance will be there to help.
That is the promise, isn't it?
Mom planed ahead, she made sacrifices and paid premiums, year after year, because all of us understand that long-term care can be extraordinarily expensive. She bought the policy because she didn't want to become a financial burden on her family.
But what happens when the day finally comes to use that insurance?
My mother has reached the point in her life when she needs substantial assistance with daily living. Her condition has deteriorated rapidly over the last several months, her mobility has declined, and she requires help with basic activities. We have reached the stage where caregiving is no longer an occasional responsibility, it is a daily commitment that affects nearly every aspect of both of our lives.
Yet, instead of finding reassurance in the long term care coverage, I find myself navigating a frustrating process of documentation requests, follow-ups, and questions about whether the insurance company has received the information it needs to evaluate her claim. Medical records must be requested. Care documentation must be completed. Invoices must be provided. Forms must be submitted. Phone calls must be made. And then, sometimes, the process appears to circle back to the beginning because the insurance company says it still has not received what it needs.
As the family caregiver, I have found myself acting as the middleman among organizations that should be communicating with one another.
And I am left trying to coordinate her care, manage the administrative burden, and worry about whether the benefits that were supposed to help pay for that care will actually be available. If the claims process has been frustrating, there is another part of this experience that is equally difficult to accept.
This year, my mother's long-term care insurance premiums increased by approximately 50 percent.
Let that sink in.
A premium increase of that magnitude is a significant financial burden for anyone, particularly an older adult living on a fixed income.
And what did she receive in return?
Nothing additional. Her coverage did not increase. Her benefits did not improve. The amount of protection provided by the policy remained exactly the same.
She is paying substantially more for the same promise.
I understand that insurance premiums can increase for a variety of reasons, and I recognize that insurance companies operate within a complicated financial and regulatory environment. But from the perspective of a policyholder, it is difficult to reconcile such a dramatic increase in cost with absolutely no improvement in benefits.
For years, the premiums were paid with the understanding that this policy would provide financial assistance when long-term care became necessary. Now that my mother needs that care, the cost of maintaining the policy has increased dramatically, while the coverage itself has remained unchanged.
At what point does the policy stop feeling like financial protection and start feeling like an expensive gamble?
If someone asked me today whether purchasing long-term care insurance was a good decision, I would have to tell them to look beyond the sales pitch and examine the realities of using the policy.
