What Is Personal Care Insurance?

Personal care insurance is a type of insurance coverage that focuses on provided health care solutions for individuals. In the broadest sense, this particular class of insurance has to do with ongoing health insurance coverage that includes preventive maintenance incentives found in many group and individual healthcare insurance policies. More commonly, personal care insurance pertains to the range of benefits that are provided to an individual in the event of an extended illness, a disability, or any other situation that may require long-term medical care.

A personal care insurance plan will often include provisions that provide specific benefits in the event of some sort of catastrophic health event. For example, if an individual is injured on the job and requires a period of over a year to fully recover from the incident, provisions within a personal care plan may often allow for such expenses as the cost of a personal care attendant who is able to care for the individual during that time. The plan will also allow for treatment by healthcare specialists, even if the patient is home bound during this time.

Situations involving permanent disabilities may also be covered under the terms of a personal care insurance policy. In this scenario, the plan will pay out benefits up to whatever limits are named in the provisions within the insurance contract, making it possible to offset the costs of the ongoing medical care. Depending on the circumstances of the covered party and the types of benefits found in the personal care insurance plan, this may include covering the costs of a live-in personal care attendant, expenses related to special equipment necessary to the treatment process, and any other expense that is recognized under the terms of the plan.

Choosing personal care insurance is important, especially in terms of weighing the benefits provided with the cost associated with the policy. Getting some idea of what type of expenses would be incurred should one of the covered events take place will help individuals to determine if the total benefits of a given plan are sufficient to justify the cost of the premiums. Like many forms of insurance, the hope is that there is never a need to take advantage of the provisions for long-term or disability coverage found in the personal care insurance plan. At the same time, failure to secure enough coverage can create considerable financial distress if one of those covered events should occur.