The prematurity values of life insurance policies can be used for home health care or nursing home care if that is deemed desirable or necessary. Access to the cash value is available through policy loans, partial withdrawals of the cash value, or outright surrender of the policy.

Long-term-care riders are available with some life insurance policies to provide for home health care or nursing home care needs. In some cases the rider is available without any additional charge; in other cases there is a nominal charge. In essence these riders make a portion of the death benefit, usually one or 2 percent of the face value of the policy, available each month that the insured qualifies for the benefit. The subsequent death benefit payable is reduced dollar-for-dollar for each accelerated benefit payment made under these riders. Their pre-death-benefit payments are usually subject to an aggregate limitation of 50 percent of the face value of the policy, although a few insurance companies have increased the aggregate limitation to 70 or 80 percent of the policy face value.

Long-term-care riders allow life insurance policies to do double duty. They make benefits available for both the insured�s lifetime objectives and the survivors� objectives. This can create a complication, however, in that lifetime uses directly reduce the residual benefit payable upon death. It is important to recognize and evaluate the potential conflicts when planning for these needs.