Glossary of Long Term Care & LTC Insurance Terms
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• Activities of daily Living (ADL's): Routines that relate to a persons ability to live independently. These include bathing, eating, dressing, continence, toileting, transferring.
  
• Adult Day Care: Licensed day care program providing care, supervision, and assistance for an individual's activities of daily living.
  
• Accelerated Payment Option: Ability to pay premiums for a set amount of years and the coverage will automatically be renewed for the rest of your life without any further premium payments.
  
• Assisted Living Facility: Independent living facilities that provide on-site services, supervision, and assistance with an individuals activities of daily living.
  
• Benefit Period: The amount of time benefits will be paid under a LTCI policy.
  
• Benefit Eligibility Triggers: Defined requirements that must be satisfied for the LTCI policy to pay claims. Most likely it is the inability to perform a set number of ADL's and/or suffer from a cognitive impairment i.e. Alzheimer's.
  
• Care Coordinator: Licensed care manager that asses your condition, creates a plan of care with your physician, coordinates and monitors ongoing care. Person is usually a Registered Nurse.
  
• Cognitive Impairment: Mental deterioration due to Alzheimer's or other forms of Dementia.
  
• Comprehensive Policy: This policy pays benefits for all levels of care. i.e. Nursing Home, Assisted Living Facilities, and Home Health Care.
  
• Daily Benefit: The maximum daily benefit paid by the policy towards your care.
  
• Elimination Period: The number of days you must wait when you become eligible for benefits before the policy pays the daily benefit.
  
• Home Health Care: Assistance with activities of daily living in your residence.
  
• Inflation Protection: Option to increase original daily benefit by 5% per year credited on a simple or compound basis.
  
• Long Term Care Insurance: A specific type of insurance policy designed to offer financial support in paying for necessary long term care service in a variety of settings.
  
• Medicaid: Joint federal and state welfare program administered by the state to provide payment for health care services for those meeting minimum asset and income requirements.
  
• Medicare: Federal program that provides hospital and medical expense benefits for individuals over age 65 or those meeting specific disability standards.
  
• Non-forfeiture Benefits: Option on a long term care insurance policy that allows the insured to continue receiving long term care coverage if the insured stops paying the premium.
  
• Nursing Home-Only Policy: Type of policy that pays for care in a nursing home or similar facility.
  
• Pre-Existing Condition: Medical condition which you sought treatment for in the previous six months before you purchase the policy.
  
• Skilled Care: Professional type of nursing assistance performed by trained medical personnel under the supervision of a physician of a physician or other qualified medical personnel.
  
• Respite Care: Temporary relief for caregivers.
  
• Waiver of Premium Provision: that allows you to stop paying premium after a specified time while you are receiving benefits.