Lapse
This is the termination of a Long-Term Care Insurance policy due to the policyholder's failure to pay the required premium. Many policies have protections against unintentional lapses
The Complete Glossary on Long-Term Care
Explore clear, easy-to-understand definitions of the terms and concepts that shape long-term care planning. Whether you’re researching coverage options, care types, or planning terms, our glossary helps you make sense of the details so you can plan with confidence.
Term of the Day
Activities of Daily Living (ADL's)
Activities of daily living (ADLs) are learned activities that each person performs to live a normal life.
Categories
Topics
Care Types
Rehabilitation Center
A rehabilitation center is a place for individuals to receive skilled and custodial care directly after an injury, illness, or surgery. The goal of rehabilitative care is to help the individual return to a previous state of good health following a medical event.
Rate Class
A rate class is a category assigned to insurance applicants based on how risky they are to insure. These categories determine how much individuals pay for Long-Term Care Insurance coverage. There are three main rate classes: preferred, standard, and sub-standard.
Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN)
A licensed practical nurse (LPN) provides various levels of care in many settings. They also act as the link between patients, families, and the health team to ensure comprehensive, quality care.
Acute Care
Acute care involves urgent medical services, often expected to be short-term or rehabilitative.
Chronic Care
Chronic care refers to care and services that help achieve functional independence for those with continuing and long-term health problems as opposed to "acute" care which refers to short term care of a severe illness.
Shared Care
This is a rider which can be included in a Long-Term Care policy which has become very popular for couples. Shared Care allows unused benefits to be used by a spouse or partner. This option is available when spouses or domestic partners both buy policies with identical benefits.
Chronic Illness Rider
Chronic illness riders are a type of insurance add-on for life insurance policies. Many people mistake these riders for Long-Term Care Insurance. However, chronic illness riders don't offer the same coverage as Long-Term Care Insurance.
Geriatric
Geriatric refers to a field of medical care primarily focused on elderly individuals.
Return of Premium
This is an option on some Long-Term Care Insurance policies which will allow for the return of some or all paid premium following your death. The amount returned is often based on the total amount of premium you have paid in; minus any claims the policyholder paid into the policy.
Spend Down
This is a process of spending an individual’s savings on long-term care services and supports until their assets are depleted enough to qualify for Medicaid, the medical welfare program.
Private Nurse
A private nurse is a care professional that individuals can hire directly to provide personalized care.