Recent news about problems with long term care insurance has many people worried about their options, and whether or not it is even worth the money to purchase long term care policies. Concerned AAFMAA members facing this dilemma will be glad to know that AAFMAA provides a common sense option for long term care protection.
AAFMAA does not offer stand-alone Long Term Care Insurance because, in most cases, we do not believe it provides sufficient value back to the policy holder. Instead, we provide a Long Term Care Settlement Option (LTCSO) as part of every AAFMAA whole life policy,
including Value-Added Whole Life, Wealth Builder Life Insurance and Generations Plus.An LTCSO is the ability to convert the death benefits of a policy into regular payments before death to help cover the costs of nursing home, custodial or home health care. If you qualify for the LTCSO with your insurance policy, you will receive the full death benefit paid out over 50 months at a rate of 2% per month, minus a small administrative fee. Should you die within those 50 months, your beneficiaries will receive any remaining benefit.
To qualify for the LTCSO benefit tax free, you must fit every one the below qualifications:
- Have had a policy for two years
- Have been in a nursing facility or required continuous home nursing care for four months
- Be certified as chronically ill by a doctor, and be re-certified annually*
If you are considering long term care insurance, you may actually find that buying an AAFMAA whole life policy just makes more sense. For example, depending on your age and health status, a $200,000 AAFMAA Value-Added Whole-Life policy may not cost much more than a comparable Long Term Care insurance policy. The difference is that you will always get the value you expect from your AAFMAA policy – you may not get anything from a long term care insurance policy.
Long term care insurance normally only pays out if you are chronically ill. So, if you never become chronically ill, you will lose the money you spent on that policy. Your AAFMAA whole life insurance is guaranteed to pay out in all eventualities — either in 50 monthly payments if you need long term care or to your beneficiaries if you die without needing long term care. When you consider the benefits of the LTCSO, the choice is simple. AAFMAA whole life insurance provides the common sense options you need to protect yourself and your family.
For any questions regarding AAFMAA whole life insurance and our LTCSO, please contact a Membership Coordinator at 877-398-2263.
*Being chronically ill means that the insured is unable to perform at least two activities of daily living (eating, toileting, transferring, bathing, dressing, and continence) without substantial assistance from another individual. You also qualify if any of your daily activities require substantial supervision to protect his/herself from threats to health and safety due to the presence of a cognitive impairment.