8 ways LTCI issuers handle border crossings

Some of your long-term care (LTC) planning clients might want to their savings by retiring in a low-cost country.

Jesse Slome, executive director of the American Association for Long-Term Care Insurance (AALTCI), says you ought to study international benefits provisions carefully, and make sure your clients include any cross-border moves in their LTC thinking as early as possible.

Slome says AALTCI compiled a collection of LTCI policy international coverage provisions after getting a number of calls from consumers who are thinking about retiring in countries such as Costa Rica or Panama. 

AALTCI wrote a report about LTCI policy international coverage provisions based on a random sampling of policies from eight different issuers. Because policy provisions may vary dramatically from state to state, and from policy to policy, AALTCI referred to each of the eight issuers by a letter, from A to H, rather than by name.

The company created a short summary of the international policy provisions for each of the eight issuers.

To learn what AALTCI found in policies it reviewed, read on.

1. Company A

Outside the United States, the company covers up to 50 percent of the nursing home benefits maximum and up to 25 percent of the maximum for home health care, limited to 365 days. The maximum benefit time period is four years. The need to pay premiumsis not waived if the policyholder is receiving benefits overseas.

See also: 6 steps to an overseas retirement plan

2. Company B

Worldwide, this company pays 100 percent of the daily benefit or the maximum benefit up to a one-year limit (except for hospice care, additional stay-at-home services, or care advisory services).

See also: Multiple Cultures, Multiple Financial Needs

3. Company C

This company has no international coverage exclusions.