UnumProvident Canada is introducing an individual, long-term care insurance product this month to help Canadians protect their assets from the high costs associated with long-term care.

Though a relatively new product in the Canadian insurance industry, according to Mila Markovic, director, individual product and market development for UnumProvident Canada, long-term care insurance is more than protection for the elderly.

“It’s a crucial component of sound financial planning,” Markovic said. “Long-term care coverage can be important to adults of any age — young, middle-aged or elder,” she added.

The costs of long-term care are high. At home, long-term care can range from $10 per hour for homemaking services to $25 per hour for a health care aide. Twenty-four hour in-home nursing can cost up to $122,000 per year.

“Many Canadians incorrectly assume the health care system will cover this type of care,” Markovic continued. “But while the government provides us with many important medical services, long-term care is not considered medical care, but rather custodial care requiring supervision, and is not fully covered by the government. The reality is that individuals and families pay for significant portions of long-term care costs. Over a period of time, even in-home care costs can compound, stressing or draining the healthiest financial portfolio,” she added.

Most long-term care policies pay benefits when an insured person is unable to perform a specific number of personal functions or activities of daily living (dressing, bathing, eating, toileting, continence or transferring from place to place.) They usually also pay for care needed because of cognitive impairment (for example, dementia from stroke or Alzheimer’s).

“UnumProvident’s Long-Term Care Plan is one of the most effective long-term care policies on the market because it allows the policyholder to choose how to spend monthly benefit dollars,” Markovic explained. Care is covered in a variety of settings, to allow personal choice: a traditional nursing home, community daycare, assisted living facility, or even at home.

UnumProvident offers the choice between two guaranteed renewable plan designs — Total Choice and Care Sensitive. Total Choice is an option that allows the policyholder to receive a full monthly benefit, regardless of where care is received. Care Sensitive is a cost sensitive alternative that offers a full monthly benefit for those who reside a qualified long-term care facility or a partial benefit for care received elsewhere.

“Additionally, UnumProvident’s long-term care product includes value-added benefits and services — Assistance Services — designed to assist the policyholder and his/her family in ways that financial benefits may not,” Markovic said.

These services include: long-term care Connect, an information and referral program; Plan of Care, a planning guide to long-term care; and the Personal Care Binder, a tool to track the details of care.