NMFN: NS, EEB, Enhancing Your Benefit Package with Long Term Care Insurance

Offered through Northwestern Long Term Care Insurance Company

The most effective way to attract and retain quality employees is to offer them a comprehensive benefit package.

Common benefits include health insurance, life insurance, disability income insurance, and retirement and savings plans. These insurance benefits may not provide adequate coverage for employees or their families should they require long-term care services.

Many people in the workplace are affected by long-term care by either its cost or by caring for a family member. This affects not only your employees but your business as well.

If you or your employees are affected by the need for long-term care, which type of insurance will cover the costs? Disability income insurance helps replace a portion of lost income. Health insurance policies pay for expenses due to acute medical conditions that tend to be short-term in duration such as broken bones or heart attacks.

If you or your employees had a long-term chronic medical condition such as a stroke or disabling disease, long-term care insurance is the most feasible insurance option.

A common misconception is that long-term care needs only affect the elderly. However, substantial numbers of individuals receiving long-term care services or providing care-giving responsibilities are under retirement age. 42% of adult Americans receiving long-term care are between the ages of 18 and 64.*

*"Long-Term Care: Baby Boom Generation Increases Challenge of Financing Needed Services," General Accounting Office, March 2001, GAO-01-563T:1-3. This statistic includes services or short durations that would not qualify for benefits from the LTC policy and services for which the policy does not provide.

By promoting employee access to information about long-term care insurance, you can promote goodwill which can potentially lead to increased productivity and reduced turnover. It can also minimize the possibility of your employees becoming distracted, encountering frequent personal interruptions or increased stress related to caregiving activities.