There are now more options and alternatives for cheaper and more affordable LTC policies to accommodate the demands and needs of the majority of American people who belong to the average income earners bracket. These new flexible options will give way for those who are interested to avail Long term care plans but find the rates and monthly premiums expensive and not suitable for their financial resources and monetary allocation to own an LTC policy at a lower price.

Partnership long term care insurance provides almost the same services and coverage as those being offered by some private insurance companies but with much cheaper rates. Also, as mandated by the Deficit Reduction Act (DRA) of 2005, a partnership policy owner may still apply and eventually qualify for Medicaid benefits should his health condition require him to receive extended medical attention and professional care. But be reminded that owning a partnership plan will not assure an individual of an automatic Medicaid eligibility. He must still meet the qualifications and requirements set by Medicaid to be entitled for additional benefits.

One feature that is unique to partnership long term care insurance plan is the Dollar-for-Dollar asset protection. For every dollar that has been paid out by his partnership plan, a dollar of his assets will be protected and will be disregarded by Medicaid when determining his eligibility. This will give the individual better chances to receive Medicaid benefits once he has exhausted his partnership plan.

Another feature that is being offered to partnership plans that is not always available to any other type of LTC policy is the reciprocity standards. Any individual who owns a partnership plan in a state who wishes to transfer and receive his policy benefits in another participating state, may still do so without eliminating the validity of his plan. This is because of the reciprocity agreement between the participating states in the partnership program of the government.

Just like any other LTC plan, partnership policies also offer minimum daily benefit amount, minimum benefit coverage period, and certain levels of inflation protection. The inflation protection is considered the most essential and most important feature of any LTC plan because it adjusts the value of a pre-acquired policy and keeps it updated based on the current costs of LTC services. This gives the insured individual an advantage because through inflation protection, he has the chance to use and receive LTC services more than what he has actually paid for.

The inflation protection also provides certain levels based on the applicant’s age at the time of his policy acquisition. The younger age the policy was purchased, the better level of inflation protection the insured individual would get. Policies which were acquired at age 76 and up do not need or require inflation protection but the policy owner has the final say on whether he would purchase an LTC partnership plan with inflation protection.

To qualify for a partnership long term care insurance policy, the applicant must provide proofs and documents that are needed to determine his qualification. The requirements needed include proofs of citizenship and residency, proofs of financial resources, and a valid Social Security number.