Term	Definition
Top A.M. Best Rating :	Independent judgment by the A.M. Best Company, a private organization that evaluates and monitors the financial strength of life insurance companies. The company assigns letter grades from A++ (the highest) through C.
Top Accelerated Death Benefit :	A life insurance policy feature that lets you use some of the policy's death benefit prior to death.
Top Activities of Daily Living (ADLs) :	Basic actions performed by an independently functioning person on a daily basis: (a) bathing; (b) dressing; (c) toileting; (d) transferring (moving to and from a bed or a chair); (e) eating; and (f) caring for incontinence. The need for assistance with ADLs or inability to perform ADLs is used to determine eligibility for many public programs such as Medicaid reimbursed long-term care services. Also, many long-term care insurance policies use the inability to do a certain number of ADLs (such as 2 of 6) as criteria for paying benefits.
Top Acute Care :	Care that has recovery as its primary goal; typically requires the services of a physician, nurse, or other skilled professional and usually provided in a doctor's office or hospital; usually short term.
Top Added Protection Upon Lapse :	(also called Third Party Designation or Third Party Notice) Long-term care insurance benefit that lets you name someone who the insurance company would notify if your coverage is about to end because of lack of premium payment. This can be a relative, friend, or professional, such as your lawyer.
Top Adult Day Services :	Services provided during the day at a community-based center. Programs are designed to meet the needs of functionally and/or cognitively impaired adults through an individual plan of care. These structured, comprehensive programs provide a variety of social and support services in a protective setting during any part of a day, but less than 24-hour care. Many adult day service programs include health-related services.
Top Advanced Directive :	(also called Health Care Directive, Advanced Health Care Directive, Living Will, or Health Care Directive) Legal document used to specify whether you would like to be kept on artificial life support if you become permanently unconscious or are otherwise dying and unable to speak for yourself. It also specifies other aspects of health care you would like under those circumstances.
Top Alzheimer's Disease :	Progressive, degenerative form of dementia that causes severe intellectual deterioration; first symptoms are impaired memory, which is followed by impaired thought and speech and finally complete helplessness.
Top Arthritis :	Disease involving inflammation of a joint or joints in the body.
Top Assisted Living Facility :	Residential living arrangement that provides individualized personal care, assistance with Activities of Daily Living, help with medications, and services such as laundry and housekeeping. Facilities may also provide health and medical care, but care is not as intensive as care offered at a nursing home. Types and sizes of facilities vary, ranging small homes to large apartment-style complexes. Levels of care and services also vary. Assisted living facilities allow people to remain relatively independent.
Top Attending Physician's Statement (APS) :	Report from your doctor or a medical facility that has treated you, providing information such as medical history, medications, and diagnoses.
Top Bathing :	Washing oneself by sponge bath, or in the bathtub or shower. One of the six Activities of Daily Living (ADLs)
Top Benefit Triggers (Triggers) :	Criteria insurance companies use to determine when you are eligible to receive benefits. The most common Benefit Triggers for long-term care insurance are: (1) needing help with two or more ADLs, or (2) having a Cognitive Impairment.
Top Benefit Waiting Period :	Specified amount of time at the beginning of a disability during which covered services are received, but for which the policy will not pay benefits (also known as a Deductible Period or Elimination Period). A Service Day Deductible Period is satisfied by each day of the period on which you receive covered services. A Calendar Day or Disability Day Deductible Period doesn't require that you receive covered services during the entire deductible period, but only requires that you meet the policy's benefit triggers during that time period.
Top Benefits :	Monetary sum paid by an insurance company to a recipient or to a care provider for services covered by the insurance policy.
Top Board and Care Home :	(also called Group Home) Residential private homes that are designed to provide housing, meals, housekeeping, personal care services, and supports to frail or disabled residents. At least one caregiver is on the premises at all times. In many states, Board and Care Homes are licensed or certified and must meet criteria for facility safety, types of services provided, and the number and type of residents they can care for. Board and Care Homes are often owned and managed by an individual or family that is involved in the every day operation of the home.
Top Care Management Services :	(also called care coordination services) Service in which a professional, typically a nurse or social worker, arranges, monitors, or coordinates long-term care services.
Top Caregiver :	Person providing care to someone with chronic illness or disability; may be unpaid (family, friend, or volunteer) or paid; provides care in the home or community. Unpaid caregivers are also called Informal Caregivers. Paid caregivers are trained and possibly licensed or certified, if required by the state. They are sometimes called Formal Caregivers.
Top Cash Surrender Value :	Amount of money you may be entitled to receive from the insurance company when you terminate a life insurance or annuity policy. The amount of cash value is determined as stated in the policy.
Top Charitable Remainder Trust :	Special tax-exempt irrevocable trust written to comply with Federal tax laws and regulations. With this kind of trust, you transfer cash or assets into the trust and may receive some income from it for life or a specified number of years (not to exceed 20). The minimum payout rate is 5 percent and the maximum is 50 percent. At your death, the remaining amount in the trust goes to the charity that was designated to receive it as part of the trust arrangement.
Top Chronically Ill :	Having a long lasting or recurrent illness or condition that causes a person to need help with Activities of Daily Living and often other health and support services, for example Parkinson's Disease or Alzheimer's disease. At a minimum, the condition is expected to last for at least 90 consecutive days. Term used in a tax-qualified long-term care insurance policy to describe a person who needs long-term care because of an inability to do a certain number of everyday Activities of Daily Living without help or because of a severe cognitive impairment.
Top Cognitive Impairment :	Deficiency in short or long-term memory; orientation to person, place and time; deductive or abstract reasoning; or judgment as it relates to safety awareness. (An example of a cognitive impairment is Alzheimer's disease.)