Glossary of Terms (continued)

 Hands-On Assistance - Physical assistance for an individual to be able to perform their activities of daily living.

Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) - Federal health insurance legislation that was passed in 1996. It allows long term care insurance to be qualified for tax benefits under specified conditions.

Home Health Care - May include the following: nursing care; speech, physical, occupational or respiratory care; medical, home health aide, social worker and homemaker services.

Homemaker Services - Household services done for individuals unable to do them for themselves.

Home for the Aged - A general term for a facility that cares for elderly people. It is often not covered under a long term care insurance policy.

Hospice Care -  Continuous care for the terminally ill, classified as having a life expecxtancy of six months or less. It is usually provided at home or at a facility with a homelike setting.

Indemnity Method - Method of paying benefits where the benefit is a set dollar amount and is not based on a specific service received or expenses occured. The insurance company only needs to determine if you are eligible for benefits. Once determined, and you are receiving long term care services, the company will pay a set amount directly to you up to the limit of the policy.

 Inflation Protection - An option in a policy that provides for increases in benefit levels to help pay for expected increases in the costs of long term care services.

Lapse - When a renewal premium is not paid the policy will be terminated.

Limited Payment Option - A premium payment option where the premiums are paid for a set time period. After the last premium payment the policy cannot be cancelled by the insurance company or the individual. These plans are more expensive than continuopus payment policies. Their guaranteed fixed payment and non cancel features make them more attractive to some.

 Medicaid - A joint federal/state program that pays for health care services for those with low incomes or very high medical bills relative to income and assets.

Medicare - A federal program providing hospital and medical insurance to those aged 65 or older and to certain ill or disabled individuals. There are limited benefits for nursing home and home health services under this program.

Medicare Supplement Insurance - A private insurance policy that covers many of the gaps in Medicare coverage (also known as Medigap insurance coverage).

National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) - Membership organization of insurance commissioners. One of its goals is to promote uniformity of state regulation and legislation related to insurance.

Noncancelable Policies - Insurance contracts that cannot be cancelled and the rates not changed by the insurance company.

Nonforfeiture Benefits - A feature of a policy that returns at least part of the premiums if the policy is cancelled or allowed to lapse.

Nursing Home - Also known as a Long Term Care facility. These licensed facilities provide general nursing care to those who are unable to take care of daily living needs, or are chronically ill.

Paid-Up Policy - If the payments on a policy are prematurely stopped, the policy is deemed to be paid-in-full. No more premiums are paid, but the benefits received will be determined by the amount of premiums already paid, not on the level of benefits originally purchased.

Partnership Policy - This type of policy allows an individual to keep some of their assets if applying for Medicaid after the policies benefits are used. Not all states have these policies.

Personal Care  - see Custodial Care.

Personal Care Home - A general term for a facility that cares for elderly people. Not usually covered in a long term care policy.

 
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