Long-Term Care Insurance Advisor in West Hartford, CT
Long-term care insurance pays for help with daily living — at home, in assisted living or in a nursing facility — that health insurance and Medicare largely do not cover. For Connecticut residents it also opens access to state Partnership policies with Medicaid asset protection. Speak to an advisor in West Hartford, CT.
What Triggers a Claim
Benefits usually begin when you can no longer perform two of the six activities of daily living, or when cognitive impairment requires supervision. The six are bathing, dressing, eating, toileting, transferring and continence care. That definition, not a diagnosis, is what most policies pay against.
The Gap Medicare Leaves
Medicare covers skilled nursing for a limited period after a qualifying hospital stay. It does not pay for ongoing custodial care — the help with bathing, dressing and supervision that most people actually need, and that continues for years. Households without coverage meet that cost from savings until assets are spent down far enough to qualify for Medicaid, which is the outcome the insurance exists to prevent.
The Connecticut Partnership for Long-Term Care
Connecticut runs a state Partnership program that is genuinely worth understanding. Buy a qualifying Partnership policy and you earn Medicaid asset protection on a dollar-for-dollar basis: the Department of Social Services disregards assets up to the amount your policy has paid in benefits. A policy that pays $200,000 protects $200,000 of assets, and that protection sits above and beyond the usual Medicaid allowances, including what a spouse may keep.
Where Care Is Delivered
- At home — the setting most policyholders use and most people prefer
- Assisted living communities
- Nursing facilities for skilled or extended care
- Adult day care centers providing daytime supervision
Choices That Drive the Premium
Four decisions set most of the cost: the daily or monthly benefit, the benefit period, the elimination period — the waiting days before benefits start — and whether you add inflation protection. Inflation protection is the one people most regret omitting, because a benefit fixed today buys considerably less care two decades from now.
Hybrid Policies as an Alternative
A common objection to traditional long-term care insurance is paying premiums for years and never claiming. Hybrid products answer that by combining life insurance or an annuity with a long-term care benefit: if care is needed the policy pays for it, and if it is never needed a death benefit passes to beneficiaries instead. Premiums are higher and often paid as a lump sum or over a set number of years, so the comparison is worth running properly rather than assuming either structure wins.
When to Buy
Premiums rise with age and policies require reasonable health to qualify, so waiting carries a real risk of becoming uninsurable rather than simply paying more. Most buyers apply in their fifties or early sixties, alongside broader retirement planning and life insurance decisions.
Talk to an Advisor
GoGo Insurance is at 15 North Main Street, Suite 100, West Hartford, CT 06107. Get in touch to compare traditional and hybrid long-term care policies.