Many people believe that the new healthcare law should allow them to buy long term care insurance regardless if they have a pre-existing medical condition.  Unfortunately, the law specifically exempts  carriers that sell long term care and your medical history is used to determine if you are healthy enough to offer you coverage.

The easiest way to assess whether or not you may qualify is to look at some of the factors that can work against you. They include:

Medical Records – Insurance companies rely heavily on what your doctor says about you in your medical records.  It is important that you know what your doctor has to say.  You may be surprised to read what they say and in some cases the notes may not be correct at all!  Just like consumers should check their credit report every few years, it is important to check your medical records and have them corrected if they are wrong.

Pharmacy Screen – Sometimes consumers may be uncomfortable talking about the prescriptions they are taking and believe the insurance company won’t find out.  Unfortunately, every state has a PDMP (Prescription Drug Monitoring Program) that is there to track drug abuse and drug trafficking and every pharmacy is required by law to report to it.  In turn the insurance company will run a report to know what prescriptions you are on and have taken.

Honesty is the best policy – Insurance companies like to know they are dealing with an honest and forthright customer.  Sometimes consumers will think if they do not disclose a doctor or condition that the insurance company won’t find out.  When the insurance company discovers things were omitted on the application they start to look for other issues that they may not know about.  The insurance underwriters are real people making a judgment call and it is always better to be as honest as possible upfront so the underwriter knows they are dealing with a customer in good faith.

Policies and coverage continue to evolve, and you need to inform yourself about the many options available to you and your loved ones. Resources like LTC Consumer are available to help you learn and evaluate carriers, and choose a solution that’s right for you. For a free Instant Quote based on your demographic information and benefit preferences, click here. From there, you can connect with a specialist who can help you find out more about whether you qualify for long term care insurance.


LTC Consumer
is an independent, free online service to help consumers understand what long term care insurance is, how it works, and how to evaluate coverage options. Our mission is to provide an educational, no-pressure resource for learning about long term care planning, with the opportunity to speak with specialists who can help them.

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