Insurance Services > Life Insurance

A type of permanent life insurance. Under the terms of the policy, the excess premium payments above the current cost of insurance are credited to the cash value of the policy. The cash value is credited each month with interest, and the policy is debited each month by a cost of insurance (COI) charge and any other policy charges and fees drawn from the cash value, even if no premium payment is made that month. Interest credited to the account is determined by the insurer but has a contractual minimum rate of 2%. When an earnings rate is pegged to a financial index such as a stock, bond, or other interest rate index, the policy is an “Equity Indexed Universal Life” contract.

Variable Universal Life Insurance is a type of life insurance that builds a cash value. In a VUL, the cash value can be invested in various separate accounts, similar to mutual funds. The choice of the available separate accounts to use is entirely up to the contract owner. The ‘variable’ component in the name refers to this ability to invest in separate accounts whose values vary because they are invested in stock and/or bond markets. The ‘universal’ component in the name refers to the flexibility the owner has in making premium payments. The premiums can vary from nothing in a given month up to maximums defined by the Internal Revenue Code for life insurance.

Whole life insurance, or whole of life assurance, is a life insurance policy that remains in force for the insured’s whole life and requires (in most cases) premiums to be paid annually into the policy.

Long-term care insurance (LTC or LTCI), an insurance product that helps provide for the cost of long term care beyond a predetermined period. Long-term care insurance covers care generally not covered by health insurance, Medicare, or Medicaid.

Individuals who require long-term care are generally not sick in the traditional sense, but instead, are unable to perform the basic activities of daily living (ADLs) such as dressing, bathing, eating, toileting, continence, transferring (getting in and out of a bed or chair), and walking.

The Benefits of Long Term Care Insurance

Long-term care insurance generally covers home care, assisted living, adult daycare, respite care, hospice care, nursing home and Alzheimer’s facilities. If home care coverage is purchased, long-term care insurance can pay for home care, often from the first day it is needed. It will pay for a visiting or live-in caregiver, companion, housekeeper, therapist or private duty nurse up to seven days a week, 24 hours a day (up to the policy benefit maximum).

Other benefits of long-term care insurance:

• Many individuals may feel uncomfortable relying on their children or family members for support, and find that long-term care insurance could help cover out-of-pocket expenses. Without long-term care insurance, the cost of providing these services may quickly deplete the savings of the individual and/or their family.
• Premiums paid on a long-term care insurance product may be eligible for an income tax deduction. The amount of the deduction depends on the age of the covered person. Benefits paid from a long-term care contract are generally excluded from income.
• Business deductions of premiums are determined by the type of business. Generally corporations paying premiums for an employee are 100% deductible if not included in employee’s taxable income

Medicaid provides some of the benefits of long-term care insurance. A welfare program, Medicaid does provide medically necessary services for people with limited resources who need nursing home care but can stay at home with special community care services. However, Medicaid generally does not cover long-term care provided in a home setting or for assisted living. People who need long-term care often prefer care in the home or in a private room in an assisted living facility.

Critical illness insurance or critical illness coverage is an insurance product, where the insurer is contracted to typically make a lump sum cash payment if the policyholder is diagnosed with one of the critical illnesses listed in the insurance policy.

The policy may also be structured to pay out regular income and the payout may also be on the policyholder undergoing a surgical procedure, for example, having a heart bypass operation.

Conditions That May be Covered:

• Alzheimer’s disease
• blindness
• deafness
• kidney failure
• A major organ transplant
• multiple sclerosis
• HIV/AIDS contracted by blood transfusion or during an operation
• Parkinson’s disease
• paralysis of limb
• terminal illness

Disability Insurance, often called DI or disability income insurance, or income protection, is a form of insurance that insures the beneficiary’s earned income against the risk that a disability creates a barrier for a worker to complete the core functions of their work. 

For example, the worker may suffer from an inability to maintain composure in the case of psychological disorders or an injury, illness or condition that causes physical impairment or incapacity to work. It encompasses paid sick leave, short-term disability benefits (STD), and long-term disability benefits (LTD).

Statistics show that in the US a disabling accident occurs on average once every second. In fact, Nearly 18.5% of Americans are currently living with a Disability, and 1 out of every 4 persons in the US workforce will suffer a disabling injury before retirement.

Types of Disability Insurance

• Individual Disability Insurance – Those whose employers do not provide benefits, and self-employed individuals who desire disability coverage, may purchase policies. Premiums and available benefits for individual coverage vary considerably between companies, occupations, states and countries. In general, premiums are higher for policies that provide more monthly benefits, offer benefits for longer periods of time, and start payments of benefits more quickly following a disability claim. Premiums also tend to be higher for policies that define disability in broader terms, meaning the policy would pay benefits in a wider variety of circumstances.
• High-limit Disability Insurance – High-limit disability insurance is designed to keep individual disability benefits at 65% of income regardless of income level. Coverage is typically issued supplemental to standard coverage. With high-limit disability insurance, benefits can be anywhere from an additional $2,000 to $100,000 per month. Single policy issue and participation (individual or group long-term disability) coverage has gone up to $30,000 with some companies.
• Key-person Disability Insurance –  Key Person Disability Insurance provides benefits to protect a company from financial hardship that may result from the loss of a key employee due to disability. The company can use the benefits to hire a temporary employee should the disabled employee’s disability appear to be short-term. In the case of permanent disability, benefits are used to help defray costs related to hiring a replacement, including recruitment, training, startup, loss in revenue and unfunded salary continuation costs.
• Business Overhead Expense Disability Insurance – Business Overhead Expense (BOE) coverage reimburses a business for overhead expenses should the owner experience a disability. Eligible benefits include: rent or mortgage payments, utilities, leasing costs, laundry/maintenance, accounting/billing and collection service fees, business insurance premiums, employee salaries, employee benefits, property tax, and other regular monthly expenses.