Long-Term Care✓ Verified · outline & fact-checked · Sep 2026Difficulty 1/5
A long-term care policy begins paying benefits when the insured is unable to perform activities of daily living (ADLs) or has a severe cognitive impairment. Which of the following is an ADL that typically triggers benefits?
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Answer & full 3-part explanation (select an option above, or peek)
Why A is correct
Activities of daily living (ADLs) are the basic self-care tasks — bathing, dressing, eating, toileting, transferring (getting in and out of bed or a chair), and continence. LTC policies commonly trigger benefits when the insured cannot perform a specified number of ADLs (typically two) or suffers a cognitive impairment such as Alzheimer's. The other options are instrumental activities (IADLs), which are more complex and not the standard ADL trigger.
Why the other options are wrong
- B) Preparing meals is an instrumental activity of daily living (IADL), not a basic ADL used as the standard benefit trigger.
- C) Managing investments is an IADL involving higher-level functioning; it is not a basic ADL trigger.
- D) Driving is an IADL, not one of the basic ADLs used to trigger LTC benefits.
Memory hook
The six ADLs: bathe, dress, eat, toilet, transfer, continence — the 'body basics.' Cooking and driving are IADLs, a step up in complexity.