Critical Illness

Elderly Care: Long Term Health Care Insurance – Is It Really Worth It? | ArticleBiz.com

There are many kinds of insurance, so many it almost makes your head spin. There is homeowners insurance, car insurance, renters insurance, life insurance, disability insurance. Heck, the truly cautious can even buy earthquake insurance (predominantly sold in California, of course). But, what about long term care insurance? Is that worth the money? And what is it anyway? Isn’t it like that commercial with the duck in it that keeps getting hurt?

Long term health Care Insurance is almost exactly what it sounds like… a long term care insurance policy you buy to help provide for the cost of long-term care beyond a predetermined period of time. Long term insurance covers care that is not generally covered by regular health insurance, Medicare or Medicaid. It is excess to what you may think you already have.

Individuals who require long term care are not sick in the general sense. They usually need special care in their daily activities, dressing, bathing, and eating, daily hygiene, getting in and out of bed or a chair, and possibly walking. And this may not even be necessarily long term care in the traditional sense. This may be care required to recover or rehabilitate from an accident or a surgery. A long term care insurance policy provides for these and many other things.

If you think you are too young to think about long term care now, think again. It doesn’t discriminate based on age. You have only to think of the actor Christopher Reeve to know that. He became paralyzed at 42 by a riding accident and subsequently required 9 years of long term care. The author Stephen King required long term care following a car accident that nearly took his life while he was a pedestrian in his 50’s. And the actor Michael J. Fox struggles still daily with Parkinson’s disease diagnosed at age 30. In fact, about 40% of those receiving long term care are between the ages of 18 and 64.

Medicaid generally does not pay for long term care in a home setting; therefore long term health care insurance is your best option and definitely something to consider. If home care coverage is purchased, long term care insurance will pay for it, often from the first day it is needed. It will pay for a live-in caregiver or private duty nurse up to 7 days a week, 24 hours a day. Assisted living is paid for by long term care insurance as is respite care, adult daycare and hospice care. Long term care insurance can also pay expenses for caring for an individual who suffers from Alzheimer’s or other forms of dementia.

So before you go on that next skydiving trip, check out some long term health care insurance. You might be doing you and your family a huge favor!

via Elderly Care :: Long Term Health Care Insurance – Is It Really Worth It? | ArticleBiz.com.

Worker’s Compensation and Social Security Disability

If I am on workers’ comp, should I also apply for Social Security Disability?

This is a very good question, but can be a very complicated one. In many situations, if you have sustained significant work injuries that may be life-changing and/or that prevent you from returning to work, then it is probably a good idea to apply for social security. For example, let’s say you suffered from a very significant spinal injury, a very significant brain injury, or perhaps some kind of severe leg, arm, or back injury. Well, if your injury is very significant and definitely has taken you out of work, then applying for social security is probably a good bet.

But, if you are going to try and get both workers’ comp and social security benefits, it is also advisable to hire an attorney who understands both. You and your attorney need to understand the Social Security Disability part of your claim as well as the Worker’s Compensation aspect so as to ensure no problems arise from getting both. Not to mention you will need an attorney to help you navigate the process of getting both.

There are complicated situations which can arise, which makes it all the more wise to have an attorney. For example, several years ago, Medicare required that individuals who applied for Social Security Disability while on Worker’s Compensation, and who subsequently settled their case, had to put some workers’ comp money aside in what’s called a Medicare Set Aside Account (MSA). The MSA is very complicated and can be hard to understand if you are not familiar with it. In any event, the MSA will impact your settlement and your Worker’s Compensation case as you proceed through it, so you just need to be sure that everything is running smoothly and as it should be. An attorney can help with that.

My suggestion and advice to you, since this is a fairly short explanation on workers’ comp and social security, is that you do call an attorney, who can help you to understand the impact of filing for Social Security Disability while you have a Worker’s Compensation claim pending. It is significant on the potential of how long the case may take and the type of settlement that you might receive in a lump sum because of that MSA set aside.

via Worker’s Compensation and Social Security Disability.

Life and Critical Illness Insurance – never withhold information as it will invalidate a claim.

Withholding information is the single most common cause of a life or critical illness insurance claim being rejected by the insurer. We have a true story to tell you that will effectively highlight this issue, but to preserve the identity of the policyholder, we have changed the name and a few other details.

Mrs C had surgery to remove cancerous lymph nodes from her groin; while recovering from the operation, she fell ill with a secondary infection. At this difficult time, she received some extra bad news. Her claim under her critical illness insurance policy had been rejected, and she could not expect to receive the $200,000 payout. To understand why her claim was rejected, we need to look at the background to these events.

In June 2001, Mrs C discovered a patch of flaky skin on her back, and she went to the doctor thinking it was eczema. Her GP wasn’t sure and referred her to a specialist dermatologist for an expert opinion. However, Mrs C cancelled the appointment with the dermatologist because the flaky skin cleared up before the date of the appointment. Mrs C thought no more about it, especially as the GP did not communicate any particular urgency to her about the matter.

In August 2001, nine weeks after the GP appointment, Mrs C received a routine sales visit from her life insurance company, Standard Life. The sales representative reviewed her situation due to the fact she now had a young family, and recommended she purchase a $200,000 Critical Illness policy. Mrs C signed up to the new policy without hesitation.

The sales representative went through the application form with Mrs C, filling in the answers for her as they progressed through the questions. When asked to provide details of incidences when she had been referred to a specialist for tests or treatments, Mrs C asked the sales representative what Standard Life meant by that. Mrs C alleges that the representative stated that only referrals relating to serious conditions needed to be mentioned. Since Mrs C’s referral related to what she thought was eczema, she didn’t believe it to be a serious condition, so she did not mention it and it did not go on the form. They completed the form together and Mrs C signed the form believing that she had provided all the information that Standard Life had asked for.

Several days later Mrs C’s application was successful and she was issued with a Critical Illness Insurance policy for $200,000.

Two years down the line, Mrs C was diagnosed with skin cancer. She had to undergo major surgery to try and remove the cancer. Mrs C made a claim on her critical illness insurance policy believing that she had a valid claim.

Mrs C’s claim was rejected, Standard Life cited reckless non-disclosure as the cause  the insurer’s way of saying that Mrs C purposely withheld information about her referral to a dermatologist.

How did this happen?

It is clear by now that Mrs C should have mentioned the fact that she had been referred to a dermatologist – so why didn’t she?

Two events brought about this unfortunate situation:

1. When Mrs C asked what kind of referrals needed to go on the form, the Standard Life sales representative told her that she only needed to mention serious conditions. This was completely wrong  the application form question stated all occasions her GP had referred her for tests or treatments. The key words here are ALL OCCASIONS. ALL means ALL and there is no flexibility for an applicant to consider if the referral is worth mentioning or not. The sales representative provided Mrs C with the wrong advice.

2. Mrs C was not made aware by the GP that the flaky skin was potentially a serious matter. The GP later admitted that this was the case. If Mrs C did not realize that the referral was a potentially serious matter, then surely she cannot be said to have been withholding information when completing the application form. Remember, the sales representative told her that only serious conditions need to be mentioned.

It is our opinion that Mrs C should not be held accountable for what was a genuine mistake. The Standard Life representative provided incorrect advice at a crucial moment, and Mrs C followed it. We think that Standard Life should take these events into account, and validate the claim.

How to avoid the same happening to you

When you are filling out a life or critical illness insurance application form, read each question very carefully and provide an accurate and full answer. Do not consider withholding any information, because if you fail to disclose something that later comes to light, you will be held accountable as withholding that information on purpose. You may think that withholding that information could result in lower premiums, but it’s not a risk worth taking.

We’ve got our fingers crossed that Standard Life will relent and pay out on Mrs C’s policy. She was unfortunate in receiving poor advice, and did not willfully mislead the insurer.

However, people that do withhold information on purpose can expect everything they get on making a claim  nothing .

NB : 5% of critical illness claims are rejected by Standard due to non-disclosure. They’re not the highest: Friends Provident rejects 15% of claims for the same reason, and Legal & General rejects 16%. The insurance industry is addressing this situation at the moment by improving the way they obtain the information from applicants, any by providing clear information about the penalties for non-disclosure.

via Life and Critical Illness Insurance – never withhold information as it will invalidate a claim..

The Use Of Critical Illness Insurance

Critical illness insurance made its first apparition in South Africa in 1983 and was known as dread disease insurance. Before 1983, policies having the name cancer policy may have been sold in the USA providing cover for certain types of cancer. These cancer policies may be considered as the foundation of critical illness insurance. Gradually, critical illness insurance went worldwide and nowadays plays an important role in markets such as UK, Canada, East Asia, Israel, etc.

Critical illness insurance may award a tax free lump sum if the insured person is diagnosed with one of the critical illness conditions defined by the policy. Almost all critical illness policies offer cover for cancer, stroke, heart attack, kidney failure and coronary artery bypass surgery. While some insurance companies may cover only seven or eight critical illness conditions, others may offer cover for up to 35 diseases. Critical illness insurance may help someone cope with the financial imbalance especially after diagnosis of a life threatening illness. The financial support may as a matter of fact help to manage a changed lifestyle.

Critical illness insurance was called dread disease insurance long ago in South Africa. The term being too strong and unsuitable for many markets as well as marketing purposes, made many companies refrain from applying its usage. However, critical illness insurance may be preferably referred as crisis cover, trauma cover or living insurance. The rules which stipulate that critical illness cover must cover only severe conditions may no longer apply. It may also be used as a means for financial security against numerous critical illness conditions. Insurers therefore tend to provide a wider choice of critical illnesses covered under their critical illness plans. By doing so, they hope to target a wider audience and also to compete effectively in the insurance market.

Moreover, critical illness insurance may be useful to people who have social insurance that does not pay big to cater for a serious illness. A critical illness can imply high costs for treatment purposes. As a matter of fact, critical illness cover may be mostly wanted in countries where the state social security systems are inadequate. Even if a good health security system exists many people may still want critical illness insurance. The reason may be because everyone wants to get the best medical care and treatments. Thus, critical illness insurance payout will allow them to do that either in a renowned clinic or overseas.

Furthermore, the additional benefits in the form of critical illness insurance may not necessarily mean paying for medical charges. The aftermath of a critical illness may sometimes be considerable. The house or living environment may have to be altered to accommodate the life a disabled person. A car can also become an important factor as a mean for facilitating mobility needs. Also, after enduring a critical illness, in most of the cases a person becomes unable to attend work. Critical illness insurance payout can once more stabilize financial pressure by settling debts or mortgage.

Critical illness insurance policy may be presented in a professional manner to the client providing him with every information that he needs. By doing so, a much friendly approach may be created while confidence over the product may arise. This may therefore lead to many critical illness cover sales.

via The Use Of Critical Illness Insurance.

Term Life Insurance | Term Life Insurance Can Help Your Loved Ones In Future

There are many rules and regulations in life insurance policy, people just do not have the time to read about the policy and they just sign on the dotted line and accept the policy, however if you can give some time to read the policy properly and take complete knowledge about the policy, you can save make the right choice and save a good amount of money for you. Term life insurance is a confusing policy at first. There are many companies that offer term life insurance. If you simply believe in your agent and book your policy then my suggestion to you is that you are doing a mistake. That’s because you may not be getting the best deal for your term life insurance coverage. Insurance agents generally stick to their favorite companies, that’s because they get their commission from that particular companies. And because of this reason you do not get the best prices that you can get. And above all if you have health related issues then it is advisable for you to take complete knowledge about the market and to compare prices and to see what companies are less aggressive with quotes. Once you have found the company that offers you the best prices then you can decide onto what type of insurance coverage you want.

Generally a term life insurance is taken to take care of any debts or any other financial burden that your family might have to bear in case you pass away. Term life insurance is basically a type of security cover that you provide to your loved ones whom you leave behind. It is practically for this reason that people generally are not sure as to what exactly is the time frame that they should apply for the policy. I would suggest a few things here, if you have a huge retirement fund coming your way, then it is ok to apply for a short time cover, because you may not need as much as far as life insurance is concerned. But that is not the case with all of us, and due to this they do not understand how much is needed and they undercut their insurance and wind up with a life insurance plan that cannot cover everything in the event of an untoward happening.

I remember when one of my friends had spoke to me about this issue and I had recommended him to go for a large plan, but he said that the large plan would cost him more and that he would just go with a small plan. Then one day he met with an accident and he died due to that. Later on his family suffered because he had lots of credit card debt and also his home is mortgage. His wife was not able to support the family properly and they had to leave their home simply because they were not able to pay the monthly payments of their home. His children were removed from the school and were admitted to a local community school because his wife was not able to pay the school fees. If only my friend had taken a large cover for his term life insurance, this kind of situation would have been avoided. So my advice to all is to always try to pay more for your insurance because that is an important matter when it comes to the safety of you and your loved ones for their future.

via Term Life Insurance | Term Life Insurance Can Help Your Loved Ones In Future.

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