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5 surprising long-term care insurance benefits you should know
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The likelihood that we’ll need some form of long-term care increases significantly as we age. But while the majority of adults over age 65 will need long-term care at some point, the costs of that type of care can be very high. For example, the average cost for a private room in a nursing home is expected to be over $120,000 per year in 2024, according to Genworth’s Cost of Care Survey. And, home health aide services to allow aging in place are expected to average over $77,000 annually this year.
Those types of hefty long-term care expenses can be difficult to cover out of pocket, especially if you’re on a limited income during retirement. And, the cost of long-term care is only expected to increase in the years ahead, so it’s important to take steps now to prepare for the potential costs.
One option you have is investing in a long-term care insurance policy, which can help cut down on the long-term care expenses you may face in the future. And, many people are surprised to learn that these policies actually provide a suite of additional benefits beyond the primary nursing home and home care coverages.
Find out more about your top long-term care insurance options online today.
5 surprising long-term care insurance benefits you should know
The following benefits offered by long-term care insurance may surprise you:
Care planning services
Being thrust into a situation where you or a loved one needs long-term care is emotionally challenging and can be incredibly confusing to navigate. And that’s where the care planning services offered by many long-term care insurers can be invaluable.
These professionals do more than simply make sure you are aware of what your policy covers. They take a comprehensive approach to evaluating your individual needs and situation and develop a plan to ensure you get the right level of care and leverage all applicable benefits. Having an expert counselor and advocate in your corner provides exceptional peace of mind during a difficult transition.
Compare your best long-term care insurance options now.
Home modification benefits
As we age, our homes often need to be modified with accessibility features to allow for safe, comfortable aging in place. This can include ramps, grab bars, walk-in showers, stair lifts and more. And, the cost of making a home accessible can easily surpass by thousands of dollars, making it difficult for many people to afford these modifications out of pocket.
But the good news is that many long-term care insurance policies provide benefits for these types of modifications if they are deemed medically necessary based on your condition. Some policies will even cover the full cost. Having this help to make your home safe, accessible and accommodating of future needs can be a huge benefit of purchasing a long-term care insurance policy.
Caregiver training
Family members will often take on the role of unpaid caregiver for a loved one, but doing so can be a demanding job that they often have no training for. And, caregiving duties like transferring patients, managing medication and providing personal care require specialized skills.
That’s where long-term care insurance can help. Certain policies will cover training courses to teach informal caregivers these crucial skills. This training helps caregivers avoid injury, burnout and provide better care overall. And, given that the value of unpaid caregiving in the U.S. exceeded $600 billion annually in 2021, maximizing the quality of that care is hugely important.
Respite care
Family caregivers can suffer from burnout, depression and health issues due to the physical and mental toll of caregiving. In these cases, respite care benefits can be a lifeline, providing temporary relief by paying for experienced replacement caregivers to take over duties for a period of time. This allows primary caregivers a chance to rest, recharge their batteries or simply take a break.
Having this support can make the long-term caregiving situation much more sustainable and manageable. And, since many long-term care insurance policies offer help with respite care, the right coverage could be beneficial if you plan to utilize family caregivers for your long-term care needs.
Care coordination outside the home
Long-term care insurance doesn’t just apply to nursing homes or in-home care scenarios. Many policies will also cover adult day care services, providing a supervised, protective environment for older adults during daytime hours. This includes meals, activities, health monitoring and more.
For families where caregivers work during the day or simply need a temporary break, adult day care can be an affordable option with long-term care insurance picking up some or all of the cost. This allows loved ones to remain home but get care and enrichment during the times when family can’t be there.
The bottom line
While the primary purpose of long-term care insurance is to cover major nursing home or home care expenses, the supplemental benefits outlined above should not be overlooked. Taking advantage of care planning, home modifications, caregiver training, respite care support and adult day care services can significantly improve the quality of life for aging loved ones and their caregivers.
The key to maximizing your benefits, though, is to read your policy details thoroughly and properly utilize every covered service available to you based on your unique situation. Don’t let valuable coverages go to waste simply because you were unaware they existed. With long-term care already consuming a significant portion of many families’ savings and income, leveraging all the benefits and support services your insurance provides is essential to easing the financial burden of aging care needs.
Legislation to expand Social Security benefits to millions of Americans passed the U.S. Senate early Saturday and is now headed to the desk of President Joe Biden, who is expected to sign the measure into law.
Senators voted 76-20 for the Social Security Fairness Act, which would eliminate two federal policies that prevent nearly 3 million people, including police officers, firefighters, postal workers, teachers and others with a public pension, from collecting their full Social Security benefits. The legislation has been decades in the making, as the Senate held its first hearings into the policies in 2003.
“The Senate finally corrects a 50-year mistake,” proclaimed Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, a Democrat from New York, after senators approved the legislation at 12:15 a.m. Saturday.
The bill’s passage is “a monumental victory for millions of public service workers who have been denied the full benefits they’ve rightfully earned,” said Shannon Benton, executive director for the Senior Citizens League, which advocates for retirees and which has long pushed for the expansion of Social Security benefits. “This legislation finally restores fairness to the system and ensures the hard work of teachers, first responders and countless public employees is truly recognized.”
The vote came down to the wire, as the Senate looked to wrap up its current session. Senators rejected four amendments and a budgetary point of order late Friday night that would have derailed the measure, given the small window of time left to pass it.
Vice President-elect JD Vance of Ohio was among the 24 Republican senators to join 49 Democrats to advance the measure in an initial procedural vote that took place Wednesday.
“Social Security is a bedrock of our middle class. You pay into it for 40 quarters, you earned it, it should be there when you retire,” Ohio Senator Sherrod Brown, a Democrat who lost his seat in the November election, told the chamber ahead of Wednesday’s vote. “All these workers are asking for is for what they earned.”
What is the Social Security Fairness Act?
The Social Security Fairness Act would repeal two federal policies — the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and the Government Pension Offset (GPO) — that reduce Social Security payments to nearly 3 million retirees.
That includes those who also collect pensions from state and federal jobs that aren’t covered by Social Security, including teachers, police officers and U.S. postal workers. The bill would also end a second provision that reduces Social Security benefits for those workers’ surviving spouses and family members. The WEP impacts about 2 million Social Security beneficiaries and the GPO nearly 800,000 retirees.
The measure, which passed the House in November, had 62 cosponsors when it was introduced in the Senate last year. Yet the bill’s bipartisan support eroded in recent days, with some Republican lawmakers voicing doubts due to its cost. According to the Congressional Budget Office, the proposed legislation would add a projected $195 billion to federal deficits over a decade.
Without Senate approval, the bill’s fate would have ended with the current session of Congress and would have needed to be re-introduced in the next Congress.
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Saturday is the winter solstice and 2024’s shortest day. Here’s what to know about the official start of winter.
The 2024 winter solstice, the shortest day of the year, happens on Saturday, Dec. 21, in the Northern Hemisphere. The celestial event signifies the first day of winter, astronomically.
What is the winter solstice?
The winter solstice is the day each year that has the shortest period of daylight between sunrise and sunset, and therefore the longest night. It happens when the sun is directly above the Tropic of Capricorn, a line of latitude that circles the globe south of the equator, the National Weather Service explains.
The farther north you are, the shorter the day will be, and in the Arctic Circle, the sun won’t rise at all.
How is the day of the winter solstice determined?
The winter solstice occurs because of the Earth’s tilt as it rotates around the sun.
When the Northern Hemisphere tilts away from the sun, the nights last longer. The longest night happens on the solstice because the hemisphere is in its furthest position from the sun. That occurs each year on Dec. 21 or 22.
This year, it falls on Dec. 21 at 4:21 a.m ET, to be precise.
On the summer solstice, when the northern tilt is closest to the sun, we have the longest day, usually June 20 or 21.
National Weather Service
The solstices are not always exactly on the 21st every year because the earth’s rotation around the sun is 365.25 days, instead of 365 even.
Will days start getting longer after the winter solstice?
Yes. Each day after the solstice, we get one minute more of sunlight. It doesn’t sound like much, but after just two months, or around 60 days, we’ll be seeing about an hour more of sunlight.
When will winter officially be over in 2025?
The meteorological winter ends on March 20, 2025. Then, spring will last until June 20, when the summer solstice arrives.
How is the winter solstice celebrated around the world?
Nations and cultures around the world have celebrated the solstice since ancient times with varying rituals and traditions. The influence of those solstice traditions can still be seen in our celebrations of holidays like Christmas and Hanukkah, Britannica notes.
The ancient Roman Saturnalia festival celebrated the end of the planting season and has close ties with modern-day Christmas. It honored Saturn, the god of harvest and farming. The multiple-day affair had lots of food, games and celebrations. Presents were given to children and the poor, and slaves were allowed to stop working.
Gatherings are held every year at Stonehenge, a monumental circle of massive stones in England that dates back about 5,000 years. The origins of Stonehenge are shrouded in mystery, but it was built to align with the sun on solstice days.
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The Hopi, a Native American tribe in the northern Arizona area, celebrate the winter solstice with dancing, purification and sometimes gift-giving. A sacred ritual known as the Soyal Ceremony marks the annual milestone.
In Peru, people honor the return of the sun god on the winter solstice. The ancient tradition would be to hold sacrificial ceremonies, but today, people hold mock sacrifices to celebrate. Because Peru is in the Southern Hemisphere, their winter solstice happens in June, when the Northern Hemisphere is marking its summer solstice.
Scandinavia celebrates St. Lucia’s Day, a festival of lights.
The “arrival of winter,” or Dong Zhi, is a Chinese festival where family gathers to celebrate the year so far. Traditional foods include tang yuan, sweet rice balls with a black sesame filling. It’s believed to have its origins in post-harvest celebrations.
Researchers stationed in in Antarctica even have their own traditions, which may include an icy plunge into the polar waters. They celebrate “midwinter” with festive meals, movies and sometimes homemade gifts.