The Filing Cabinet Policy: What Stephanie and Bruce Almost Forgot
Stephanie was in a wheelchair the first time I met her. I had not come to sell her anything. Her CPA had referred the couple to me because she knew long-term care was my specialty, and she thought I might be able to help.
Nerve damage in Stephanie’s back was steadily taking away her ability to walk. After she told me how she had ended up in the wheelchair, I asked the question I ask everyone: did she and her husband have any kind of long-term care coverage?
The look that crossed her face is one I will never forget. She paused, and then she said, “Oh my god. I forgot that we purchased some kind of long-term care insurance plan years ago.” She turned to her husband. “Bruce, go look in the filing cabinet in the bottom drawer with all of our documents, and see if you can spot something.”
Bruce headed off to the back bedroom, and while he rooted through the filing cabinet, Stephanie leaned toward me and lowered her voice. She felt so bad, she told me, because Bruce always wanted to help her, but his own back was in such rough shape that he could not even help her in and out of the shower without her worrying that she would hurt him. Here was a woman losing her ability to walk, and her first concern was protecting her husband.
About 5 minutes later, we heard him yell from the back of the house. “Got it!”
Bruce came back to the table with a folder, and the name printed on it told me something before I even opened it. The insurance company was one that no longer offers new long-term care policies. Whatever was inside, it was old. I found the declaration page, read through the details, and felt immediate relief.
“You’ve got a great long-term care policy here.”
The plan she and Bruce had purchased years earlier was comprehensive: in-home care, skilled nursing care, and assisted living care, with inflation protection riders that had been quietly increasing the benefit the entire time. They had been paying the premium faithfully for years, and they had forgotten the policy existed for the simplest of reasons. The premium was never large enough to cause them any financial discomfort. It went into the filing cabinet, and life moved on.
I was able to tell Stephanie and Bruce that they could activate the policy whenever they were ready, and that it would pay for home health care to help Stephanie with bathing, cooking, and transportation. That is exactly what they did. Stephanie was overjoyed, and Bruce no longer had to attempt, alone and at real risk to his own health, what a trained caregiver could now do safely.
That was the whole of my involvement. I did not sell them that policy. I simply helped them find something they had forgotten they owned, and helped them put it to work the way it was designed. Thankfully, they had kept paying for it through all those years, and it was there when they needed it.
Long-term care insurance is not the only way to plan for a long-term care event. It is one tool among several, and it is not the right tool for everyone. The more urgent lesson is the one in the filing cabinet: if you already own a policy, whether you bought it 2 years ago or 20, have it reviewed by someone who understands your entire financial picture. And do not let anyone recommend canceling a long-term care policy without that kind of expert review first. Stephanie and Bruce nearly forgot they had exactly the protection they needed. It was still there for one reason only. They kept it.
If there is an old policy in a drawer somewhere at your house, or you are not entirely sure what you have, it is worth 30 minutes to find out. What you already own may be the plan you think you do not have. Schedule a free consultation and we will go through it together. The choice to look is yours.
Names are placeholders to protect client privacy. This article is for educational purposes only and does not constitute personalized advice. Long-term care insurance contracts and benefits vary by carrier and state. Any strategy should be reviewed with a licensed insurance professional.
