Short-Term Care Insurance in Brighton, CO

What to know before you choose

Medicare covers skilled nursing facility care only in limited situations: after a qualifying inpatient hospital stay, for skilled care, for up to 100 days per benefit period. Days 1 to 20 are covered in full, and from day 21 to day 100 you pay $217 a day in 2026 (CMS). Medicare does not cover custodial care, the help with bathing, dressing and eating that many people need most (CMS).

A worked example, as an illustration. If you needed all 80 of days 21 to 100 in a skilled nursing facility in 2026, the Medicare coinsurance alone would be 80 times $217, or $17,360. After day 100, or if your care is custodial rather than skilled, Medicare pays nothing. A Medigap plan covers the skilled nursing coinsurance, but not custodial care.

A short-term care policy pays a daily benefit for covered care for a set number of days, up to about a year depending on the policy, after a short elimination period. Many cover home health care as well as facility care. Approval usually relies on a short health questionnaire rather than a medical exam.

It is not long-term care insurance. It will not pay for years of care, and it is priced to match. Its job is narrower: protecting savings from a recovery measured in weeks or months.

What care costs here, from a Colorado government figure. Health First Colorado publishes an average private pay rate for nursing facilities: from January 1, 2026 it is $10,814 a month statewide and $11,522.44 a month in Region I, which includes Adams, Arapahoe, Boulder, Broomfield, Denver and Jefferson counties (HCPF Operational Memo OM 25-073). That is the bill a family pays itself when Medicare is not paying and Medicaid does not apply.

A worked example for a hypothetical Brighton resident, as an illustration. After a three day hospital stay for a hip replacement in 2026, she needs 60 days of skilled rehab in a nursing facility, then two more months of help with bathing and dressing before she can go home. Medicare pays days 1 to 20 in full. Days 21 to 60 cost her 40 times $217, or $8,680, unless a Medigap plan pays that coinsurance (CMS). The two months of custodial care that follow are not covered by Medicare at all (CMS); at the Region I average private pay rate they come to about $23,045. Her total is about $31,725 before any doctor bills.

Now add a short-term care policy to the same example. Say it pays $200 a day for covered facility care after a 30 day elimination period, for up to 360 days; those benefit figures are examples to show the arithmetic, not a quote, and every policy defines covered care in its own words. Counting from the first day of facility care, days 31 to 120 are 90 days, so the policy would pay $18,000 toward a bill of about $31,725. A shorter elimination period would pay more; a smaller daily benefit would pay less. That is the trade I walk through with you.

Your needs and situation are unique, and I am committed to spending the time to get to know you so you get coverage and support that fits your lifestyle.

Colorado rules to know

Colorado law defines long-term care insurance as coverage for not less than twelve consecutive months for each covered person (C.R.S. 10-19-103(5)). A short-term care policy with a shorter benefit period is therefore not long-term care insurance under that definition, so ask which consumer protections apply to the policy you are offered, and read its outline of coverage.

Health First Colorado sets an average private pay nursing facility rate each year, $10,814 a month statewide for 2026 and $11,522.44 in the region that includes Adams County (HCPF OM 25-073). It is a useful yardstick when you choose a daily benefit.

Policies sold here are regulated by the Colorado Division of Insurance. Ask me for the outline of coverage, which lists exactly what is paid.

How and when to enroll

1. Apply while you are healthy; the health questions usually ask about recent diagnoses, care needs and use of mobility aids.
2. Each company sets its own issue ages and health questions; I tell you which ones you are likely to qualify for before you apply.
3. Choose a daily benefit, a benefit period and an elimination period with me, then read the outline of coverage together.

Common mistakes to avoid

• Assuming Medicare pays for a nursing home or home help after a fall. It covers only limited skilled care.
• Waiting until a diagnosis makes you ineligible.
• Choosing a long elimination period to save premium when the most likely claim is short.

What Lisa checks for you

1. What Medicare and your Medigap or Advantage plan already pay for skilled nursing, so the policy covers the gap and not the same days twice.
2. The daily benefit against the Region I average private pay rate, so the benefit means something in the northeast metro.
3. The elimination period, how its days are counted, and whether days Medicare pays count toward it.
4. Whether home care, assisted living and facility care are all covered, and at what share of the daily benefit.
5. The health questions, before you apply, so you know whether you are likely to qualify.

Questions to ask Lisa

• Does this policy pay for care at home, in assisted living, or only in a facility?
• How many days is the elimination period, and do days Medicare pays count toward it?
• What daily benefit makes sense against Colorado care costs?
• Can I use it more than once, after a second injury or illness?
• Would a hospital indemnity policy or my Medigap plan already cover part of this?

How Lisa helps

• What Medicare and your Medigap or Advantage plan already pay for skilled nursing, explained first
• Daily benefit, benefit period and elimination period chosen for your situation
• Home care and facility care benefits compared
• Health questions reviewed before you apply
• Comparison with hospital indemnity coverage so the two fit together
• Help coordinating a claim with the facility or home care agency

Who it fits

You are in your sixties or older, want to protect savings from the cost of a recovery after surgery, a fall or an illness, and either do not qualify for or do not want to pay for full long-term care insurance.