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What happens if you don’t use your long-term care insurance benefits?
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Long-term care insurance is a financial planning tool that can help you pay for services like nursing homes, home health aides and more when you need them. And, if you purchase coverage, and need those services, this type of insurance may prove overwhelmingly valuable.
But, not all older adults will need long-term care – only about 70% do. And, long-term care insurance premiums can be costly.
So, what happens to the premium dollars you pay if you don’t need care? Are you destined to lose the money you paid into your policy or is there value in long-term care insurance for those who never use it? That’s what we will break down below.
Compare leading long-term care insurance policies now.
What happens if you don’t use your long-term care insurance benefits?
What happens if you purchase long-term care insurance but never use it depends on a variety of factors. Keith Bercun, regional sales director for OneAmerica, a financial services firm, says there are several different long-term care insurance policies to choose from – and the type of policy you choose will play a role in what happens if you don’t ultimately need care.
Hybrid long-term care insurance policies
A hybrid long-term care insurance policy is a strong option if you want to make sure you get value out of your policy whether or not you need care. “With hybrid long-term care policies that are considered asset based, (including) long-term care policies that are on either a life insurance or annuity chassis,” there will be value for the insured in a variety of scenarios, says Bercun.
If you need to use your coverage for long-term care in your lifetime, “you’re going to get tremendous leverage on your money,” says Bercun. You may also decide that you’d like to stop paying for your long-term care insurance coverage. And, with a hybrid policy, you could still enjoy some cash value. “You could quit, and with nearly all hybrid policies, you’ll get some cash value back,” says Bercun. “If it’s an annuity base, you’ll get the cash value of the annuity minus any surrender charges.” And, you could get all the money you’ve paid in back if you opt for a return of premium rider.
“If you never use it for anything and you die, you’ll get a tax-free death benefit,” that will be passed on to heirs, similar to life insurance death benefits, says Bercun.
Find out how affordable hybrid long-term care insurance can be today.
Traditional long-term care insurance policies
“Traditional long-term care insurance is just kind of like auto insurance or health insurance,” says Bercun. “It is purpose built for one thing – to pay out for long-term care expenses.”
So, if you choose a traditional long-term care insurance policy over a hybrid option, you may lose your premiums if you die without needing care. “If you ever want your money back, or you die, there is zero value whatsoever,” explains Bercun.
And, you’ll be priced out of your ability to maintain coverage with a traditional policy. That’s because, “there’s no protection against rate increases on traditional long-term care insurance policies,” says Bercun. So, your premiums could rise over time.
The bottom line
Whether or not you get value out of your long-term care insurance premiums doesn’t necessarily depend on your need for care or lack thereof. While that may be the case with traditional long-term care insurance policies, most hybrid policies give you value whether you need care, die without using your policy or even decide that you’re not interested in paying your policy premiums anymore. Discuss your long-term care insurance options with an expert now.
Israel said Sunday that the body of an Israeli-Moldovan rabbi who went missing in the United Arab Emirates has been found after he was killed in what it described as a “heinous antisemitic terror incident.”
The statement from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said Israel “will act with all means to seek justice with the criminals responsible for his death.” There was no immediate comment from the UAE.
Zvi Kogan, 28, an ultra-Orthodox rabbi who went missing on Thursday, ran a Kosher grocery store in the futuristic city of Dubai, where Israelis have flocked for commerce and tourism since the two countries forged diplomatic ties in the 2020 Abraham Accords.
Jon Gambrell / AP
The agreement has held through more than a year of soaring regional tensions unleashed by Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023 attack into southern Israel. But Israel’s devastating retaliatory offensive in Gaza and its invasion of Lebanon, after months of fighting with the Hezbollah militant group, have stoked anger among Emiratis, Arab nationals and others living in the UAE.
Iran, which supports Hamas and Hezbollah, has also been threatening to retaliate against Israel after a wave of airstrikes Israel carried out in October in response to an Iranian ballistic missile attack.
The Emirati government did not respond to a request for comment.
Early Sunday, the UAE’s state-run WAM news agency acknowledged Kogan’s disappearance but pointedly did not acknowledge he held Israeli citizenship, referring to him only as being Moldovan. The Emirati Interior Ministry described Kogan as being “missing and out of contact.”
“Specialized authorities immediately began search and investigation operations upon receiving the report,” the Interior Ministry said.
Netanyahu told a regular Cabinet meeting later Sunday that he was “deeply shocked” by Kogan’s disappearance and death. He said he appreciated the cooperation of the UAE in the investigation and said that ties between the two countries would continue to be strengthened.
Israel’s largely ceremonial president, Isaac Herzog, condemned the killing and thanked Emirati authorities for “their swift action.” He said he trusts they “will work tirelessly to bring the perpetrators to justice.”
Kogan was an emissary of the Chabad Lubavitch movement, a prominent and highly observant branch of ultra-Orthodox Judaism based in Brooklyn’s Crown Heights neighborhood in New York City. It said he was last seen in Dubai. The UAE has a burgeoning Jewish community, with synagogues and businesses catering to kosher diners.
The Rimon Market, a Kosher grocery store that Kogan managed on Dubai’s busy Al Wasl Road, was shut down Sunday. As the wars have roiled the region, the store has been the target of online protests by supporters of the Palestinians. Mezuzahs on the front and the back doors of the market appeared to have been ripped off when an Associated Press journalist stopped by on Sunday.
Kogan’s wife, Rivky, is a U.S. citizen who lived with him in the UAE. She is the niece of Rabbi Gavriel Holtzberg, who was killed in the 2008 Mumbai attacks.
The UAE is an autocratic federation of seven sheikhdoms on the Arabian Peninsula and is also home to Abu Dhabi. Local Jewish officials in the UAE declined to comment.
While the Israeli statement did not mention Iran, Iranian intelligence services have carried out past kidnappings in the UAE.
Western officials believe Iran runs intelligence operations in the UAE and keeps tabs on the hundreds of thousands of Iranians living across the country.
Iran is suspected of kidnapping and later killing British Iranian national Abbas Yazdi in Dubai in 2013, though Tehran has denied involvement. Iran also kidnapped Iranian German national Jamshid Sharmahd in 2020 from Dubai, taking him back to Tehran, where he was executed in October.
Hyundai and Kia are recalling more than 208,000 electric vehicles to fix a problem that can cause the loss of drive power, increasing the risk of a crash.
The recall covers more than 145,000 Hyundai and Genesis including some IONIQ 5 and IONIQ 6 EVs along with Genesis GV60, Genesis GV70 and Genesis G80 models.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) said the vehicles’ transistors in a charging control unit may get damaged and stop charging the 12-volt battery, “which can result in a loss of drive power.”
In the Kia recall, nearly 63,000 EV6 vehicles from 2022 through 2024 are impacted.
Car dealers will inspect and replace the control unit and a fuse if needed, as well as update software. Owners whose vehicles were recalled earlier this year to fix the same problem will have to visit their dealer again.
Owners will be notified by letter in December and January.
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