Will you take these steps before making a long-term care claim?

When you purchase long-term care insurance, you hope you never have to make a claim. Of course, you know that there could come a day when you need to file for benefits.

If you ever find yourself wanting to make a long-term care insurance claim, there are a few things you should first do. When you take the right steps upfront, you don’t have to worry about anything holding you back in the future.

First things first, make sure you are familiar with the elimination period. This information can be found in your policy.

From there, it is time to learn more about the “disability test.” How will you prove that you are disabled and require long-term care? Fortunately, this is easy enough with a doctor’s report.

Finally, make sure you know the ins and outs of the caregiver requirements. Before you hire a caregiver, read your policy to see what type of aide your insurance company covers.

Making a long-term care insurance claim sounds simple, but this is not always the case. There are things you need to do along the way, such as addressing the steps above, to ensure that you don’t make a mistake.

Before you purchase long-term care insurance, the best thing you can do is read the fine print. This will give you a clear understanding of the policy, including what it offers in terms of coverage and how to file a claim. At that point, you will feel better about the future should you need to receive benefits.

Source: Kiplinger, “3 Steps to Take Before Filing a Long-Term-Care Insurance Claim Read,” accessed April 25, 2016