Benefits Of The CalPERS Long Term Care ProgramThe increasing cost of long term care has been a major concern for many states in the United States. The median age of Americans have increased through the years and while this implies longevity, this also implies the onset of medical conditions that could render an individual invalid or incapable to do activities of daily living like bathing, dressing, transferring, eating, toileting and continence. To assist in shouldering long term care expenses especially for those in the advanced years, the state of California has formed alliances or partnerships with non-government organizations. The California Department of Health Services (DHS), through its California Partnership for Long Term Care Program has partnered with some private insurance companies and the California Public Employees Retirement System or CalPERS long term care program. Through this program, insurance policies, also called as partnership policies, are made available to the public. These policies should be duly approved by both the DHS and the Department of Insurance. Agents who are allowed to sell this type of insurance policy must have undergone special training and should be able to provide certification for such. All partnership-approved policies, including the CalPERS long term care insurance policies, have an automatic inflation protection feature to protect the purchaser from the rising cost of long term care. CalPERS is an organization that offers pension fund, healthcare and retirement services to more than a million public employees in the state of California. As of June of 2007, it is the largest pension fund in the country with assets of approximately $250 billion of stock, bonds, funds, and other properties. By purchasing a CalPERS long term care insurance policy, a person no longer has to spend all his personal savings to afford long term care services. Moreover, he also does not need to deplete his financial resources to avail of state financial aid. CALPERS long term care program provides a wide range of benefits for those who wish to avail of them. This program is especially designed to suit the needs of public employees and retirees in California, including their extended families. To become eligible for the CalPERS long term care program, one must be between 18 to 79 years old. Members of CalPERS, school employees, teachers, and retirees of the University of California and California State University, city and county employees, legislators, judges and the rest of the public employees of the state of California can choose to avail of the benefits of the CalPERS long term care program. There are three health plans for members to choose from. These are the comprehensive health plan, the Facilities Only plan which covers only expenses incurred from licensed skilled nursing facilities, and the Partnership plan. These plans are recognized and can be used anywhere in the United States. Generally, insurance policies indicate what kind of long term care will be paid by the insurer, where they will pay for long term care, the provider of long term care as well as other conditions that would have to be met by the policy holder before the insurer pays for benefits. |