The Insurance Buying Guide: Care Coordination Benefits

Some LTC policies include care coordination benefits (CCB), which provide payments for the services of a professional care coordinator. The care coordinator assesses your condition and the support available from family members, formulates a plan of care and then assists in the implementation of that plan. This is a valuable benefit, as it relieves you and your family members from having to coordinate and monitor the care you're receiving, which is sometimes the most difficult and time-consuming part of long-term care.

The care coordinator could recommend a plan under which the individual is confined to a nursing home indefinitely. Conversely, the coordinator could recommend a plan that combines home health care, family care and some skilled care, depending on your needs.

The purpose is to better utilize the services and benefits provided by the various types of covered facilities -- in an effort to be of better service to the patient and, at the same time, conserve expenses.

Most LTC plans that offer this benefit typically will pay the fee of the care coordinator in full or provide a benefit equal to some factor of the daily nursing home benefit, such as 10 times or 20 times the daily benefit.