Custodial (Personal) Care

Medicare covers only limited skilled care and does not pay for extended custodial care — Medicare is an acute-care program: Part A covers skilled nursing facility care only after a qualifying hospital stay and only for a limited benefit period, and it does not pay for custodial care — the personal help with bathing, dressing, and feeding that makes up most long-term care costs. This gap is the fundamental reason private long-term care insurance exists. The exam objective AH-V.1a frames long-term care insurance as filling exactly this hole in Medicare coverage.

National insurance concept

Custodial care — Custodial, or non-skilled, care provides assistance with activities of daily living — bathing, dressing, eating, and similar personal tasks — and can be given by non-licensed personnel. The scenario describes pure custodial need because no medical or nursing services are required. AH-V.1b tests the ability to classify care levels, and custodial care is the level most LTC insurance claims actually address.

National insurance concept