One more feature that plays a significant role in choosing the price of long term care insurance is so called the Benefit Period. This term refers to the duration or length of time that the insurance will pay for the policyholder’s care from the point of claim, or how long the insured will receive the benefits. Being knowledgeable and aware of what benefit period is can maximize your health coverage and save on long term care insurance premiums at the same time.

Nationally, the average care of time that the care is required is between two and three years. The three year benefit period correspond to the average length of stay in a nursing home or assisted living facilities. Most LTCi companies however offer two year care coverage, with an option to extend the benefits to five years or even to a lifetime or unlimited benefit period coverage.

Some of the long term care insurance policies today offer "pool or bucket of money" concepts. The benefits for this kind of approach may be higher than the actual period. In this concept the insurance take the daily benefit amount purchased and multiply it by the amount of days in the benefit period. If the policyholder receives services that cost less than his daily benefit amount, or if he does not receive services daily, the benefits will last longer than the benefit period. Example of this kind is that if a cardholder has five year insurance policy and pays out $200 daily, but he only uses $100 per day, the difference or the amount that has not been used will be kept in a pool of money. This being the case the five year insurance could last to up to ten years! The money will stay around waiting for the policyholder to use it.

When choosing the benefit period, it is important to look at the policyholder’s family health history, current age, and health status with the consideration on how much money he is willing to spend for the premium. According to US Department of Health and Human Services, the average length of stay in a nursing home is 2.4 years. People can consider the two year benefit period if he wants a basic level of protection. However, if the person applying for the long term insurance benefit has a family history of Alzheimer’s, then a longer benefit period is recommended. It is important not be overwhelmed in insuring your health to avoid purchasing longer benefit period and end up unable to pay the premiums.

Obviously, policies with longer benefit period are significantly more expensive because policyholder will be getting longer pay-out period as compared to those with shorter benefit periods. It is recommended to speak with a LTCi specialists before choosing the benefit period as these people can help in reviewing someone’s personal and family history. It is important to anticipate the future risks and average number of years for a typical nursing home stay to prevent overpayment and financial mistakes.