Elimination period

What it means

The elimination period is a deductible measured in days rather than dollars. It typically starts once the benefit trigger is met and runs for a set number of days of care.

Policies differ on what counts as a day: some require care to have been received and paid for, some count calendar days, some count each week of service as seven days.

It usually applies once per lifetime, but some policies apply it to each new claim.

Why it matters

It is the gap families do not budget for. Care has to be paid for privately during a period that can run to several months.

How days are counted can change the real cost by a large multiple, which makes it worth reading before care starts rather than afterwards.

When you are likely to meet it

• When a long-term care claim is approved.
• When budgeting for the start of paid care.
• When comparing policies.

Related terms

• Activities of daily livingThe everyday self-care tasks — bathing, dressing, eating, using the toilet, moving from a bed to a chair, continence — that care assessments and insurance policies measure.
• Assisted livingHousing with help for daily tasks and staff on site, but without the licensed clinical care a nursing facility provides.
• Benefit triggerThe condition a long-term care insurance policy requires before it starts paying — usually needing help with a stated number of daily activities, or having cognitive impairment.
• Custodial careHelp with everyday living rather than medical treatment — bathing, dressing, eating, moving about. It is what most long-term care actually is.
• Long-term care insuranceA policy that pays toward help with daily living — at home, in assisted living, or in a nursing facility — which health insurance and Medicare do not cover.

Sahvelo guidance that uses this

• Long-term care insurance