Insurance Dictionary
Disability & Long-Term Care Insurance Dictionary
17 plain-English terms covering disability benefits, elimination periods, activities of daily living and long-term-care concepts.
Disability And Long-Term Care Insurance
Plain-English definitions for this part of insurance. Read the simple meaning first, then the exact insurance meaning.
Activities of daily living (ADLs)
Simple meaning: Basic daily tasks like bathing, dressing, eating, toileting, transferring, and continence.
Insurance meaning: A standard set of functional activities used in many long-term care policies to determine benefit eligibility, subject to contract definitions.
Also called: ADLs
Any-occupation disability
Simple meaning: A disability definition based on whether you can work in another suitable occupation under the policy's rules.
Insurance meaning: A disability standard based on inability to perform work in an occupation for which the insured is reasonably suited by education, training, experience, or other policy criteria.
Benefit period (disability)
Simple meaning: The longest time a disability policy can pay for one qualifying disability, subject to its rules.
Insurance meaning: The maximum duration for which disability benefits may be payable for a covered period of disability.
Benefit trigger (long-term care)
Simple meaning: The condition that must happen before long-term care benefits can become available.
Insurance meaning: The functional or cognitive criteria that must be met for LTC coverage to pay, commonly inability to perform a required number of ADLs or severe cognitive impairment, subject to policy terms.
Cognitive impairment
Simple meaning: Serious problems with thinking, memory, or judgment that may make a person unsafe without help.
Insurance meaning: A long-term care benefit trigger that may involve severe cognitive impairment as defined by the policy and applicable law.
Disability insurance
Simple meaning: Insurance that can replace part of your income if a covered illness or injury keeps you from working.
Insurance meaning: Coverage providing periodic income benefits when an insured meets the policy definition of disability, subject to elimination periods, benefit limits, exclusions, and occupation definitions.
Elimination period (disability)
Simple meaning: The waiting time after disability starts before benefits can begin.
Insurance meaning: The number of days an insured must satisfy the policy's disability requirements before benefits become payable.
Also called: Waiting period
Hybrid life and long-term care policy
Simple meaning: A policy that combines life insurance with long-term care benefits.
Insurance meaning: A life insurance contract with long-term care or chronic-illness features that may allow policy value or death benefit to be used for qualifying care, subject to the contract and tax rules.
Inflation protection (LTC)
Simple meaning: A feature designed to increase long-term care benefits over time.
Insurance meaning: A policy option or feature that increases specified LTC benefit amounts according to a fixed, compound, or other contract formula.
Long-term care insurance
Simple meaning: Insurance that can help pay for eligible long-term care services when a person meets the policy's benefit rules.
Insurance meaning: Coverage for qualifying long-term care services such as home care, assisted living, or nursing facility care when benefit triggers and elimination-period requirements are satisfied.
Also called: LTC insurance
Long-term disability insurance
Simple meaning: Disability coverage designed to pay benefits for longer-lasting qualifying disabilities.
Insurance meaning: Income-replacement insurance with a longer elimination period and benefit period than short-term disability, subject to the policy definition of disability.
Also called: LTD
LTC elimination period
Simple meaning: The number of qualifying days you must meet long-term care benefit rules before the policy starts paying.
Insurance meaning: A waiting or service period that must be satisfied before long-term care benefits become payable. How days count varies by policy.
Own-occupation disability
Simple meaning: A disability definition based on whether you can do the important duties of your own occupation.
Insurance meaning: A policy definition that evaluates disability in relation to the insured's regular or own occupation. Exact wording and whether other work affects benefits vary by contract.
Partial disability
Simple meaning: You can work some, but a covered condition limits your work.
Insurance meaning: A policy-defined level of disability where the insured can perform some work or duties but has qualifying restrictions or income loss.
Presumptive disability
Simple meaning: A severe condition the policy automatically treats as total disability if stated requirements are met.
Insurance meaning: A policy provision deeming specified losses or conditions, such as certain loss of sight, hearing, speech, or limbs, to be total disability without ordinary proof of income loss, subject to contract wording.
Residual disability
Simple meaning: A partial disability that causes a qualifying loss of income even though you can still work.
Insurance meaning: A disability benefit for partial loss of income or duties when the insured does not meet the policy's total-disability definition but satisfies residual requirements.
Short-term disability insurance
Simple meaning: Disability coverage designed to pay benefits for a shorter period.
Insurance meaning: Income-replacement coverage for qualifying disabilities with a relatively short benefit period, commonly offered through employers or individual products.
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