So… Who IS Buying LTC and What about the Claims?

By Rosemarie Hurley, Certified Senior Advisor –

Most of my articles tackle what the policies cover, how they work, and why you should buy coverage to protect your future. Today, since there are so many valid, accumulated statistics about it, I decided to share ……. “Who has Private Long-Term Care Insurance?”.

The following statistics have been collected from the SOA Experience Study, The American Institute for Long-term Care Insurance Awareness study, the AARP LTCI Fact Sheet, and the MetLife Mature Market Institute.

Regarding Industry trends:
LTC Insurance claims have doubled from 95,000 through 2001 have increased to 172,000 by end of 2004. They will steadily increase.

Lapse rates have been declining. Voluntary lapses dropped from 7.4% to 5.5%. LTC insurance is far more persistent than either Life or Disability Insurance.

Nursing Home Claims have decreased from 80% to 55% just three years earlier because people are using more of the Home Health Care and Assisted Living features of their policies.

For new purchases, the duration of benefits selected has increased from an average of 3 years to an average of 5 years. In states that offer a 2 year plan, the 2 year choice dropped from 43% to 35%.

The majority of policy holders are female by a difference of 4% to men. The average claimant age has dropped from 79.9 to 78.9. The average duration of claims is increasing. Duration jumped from 914 to 1040 days and many people are using their policies for more than one duration.

The average purchase age of insureds on the group side dropped from 47 slightly to 46. On the individual side it dropped from 67 to 64.

Alzheimer’s disease accounted for the majority of claims with broken hips a close second and strokes coming in third place.

There are 8 Million Americans with Long-Term Care protection of some type. 46% of Purchasers were between 50-60 years of age. 39.7% were over 60.

So what does this all mean?
In light of the Baby Boomers aging and their parents requiring some type of additional Care Services, education has increased. More awareness and better understanding of the plans being offered, has increased the number of Long-Term Care insurance sales. As I always say, plan ahead. Secure your future for you and your family. Questions? Call me anytime.

Rosemarie Hurley, president of Senior Insurance Solutions, has worked in the senior healthcare market for 22 years. She is a Certified Senior Advisor and has been a Long-Term Care Insurance Specialist for over 18 years. As a Broker, she represents only the every insurance company in the industry. Call her at: 274-6678 or visit the web site: www.longtermcareinsurance-online.com