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05/10/2010 11:59 AM

Finance Guy: Long-term care insurance policies

By: John Henry McDonald

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A long-term care policy has to satisfy certain requirements in order to be regarded as a partnership policy. Partnership policy benefits must include:

• Daily or monthly benefit and benefit periods

• Choice of elimination periods

• Comprehensive coverage including home, facility care and adult day care

Inflation protection requirements include:

• Younger than age 60: automatic compound inflation

• 61-75: automatic simple or compound inflation

• 76 and older: inflation protection is optional

All long-term care insurance policies purchased before January 1, 1997 are tax qualified. A tax qualified policy means you may be able to deduct part of the policy premium from your taxes as a medical expense. Likewise, insurance benefits are generally not taxable income.

All partnership policies must be accompanied by a disclosure statement. The state of Texas requires all insurance companies offering partnership policies to certify that agents have completed the training requirements.