Honey, Author at Long Term Care Insurance Expert | Honey Leveen

Media Getting it Right

May 10, 2011 by Honey Leave a Comment

In the 20+ years I’ve been working with long-term care insurance (LTCi), I’ve been waiting patiently for the media to stop slamming LTCi so that the public could be better informed. Could it be that the media is finally getting it straight about how essential LTCi is? When I see accurate, factual articles with no trace of foul, negative spin, I am heartened!

Thank you to Constance Gustke of www.CNBC.com for taking the time research and honor her profession as a journalist. Here’s her article, titled, “Long-Term Care Comes of Age”. There is no emotional spin in this article because it is written by a good journalist. It contains a lot of solid, useful facts and information. I encourage all of my readers to read Ms. Gustke’s piece and forward it to those you care about, who still avoid conversing about responsible long-term care planning.

What Ms. Gustke is doing correctly, and what an embarrassing number of her peers don’t, is relate information factually, with no tinge of emotion.

The contrast between Ms. Gustke’s example of good journalism and junk, shoddy journalism is very obvious when you compare this piece to the one I commented on by Katy Read in the Star Tribune, April 13, 2011. Click here for my blog about this piece.

Ms. Read has her facts correct, but why was she compelled to frame LTCi negatively? The first paragraph of this piece states LTCi is expensive. She mentions LTCi’s expensiveness an additional time in her short piece. Why? To sell press? Short deadline? I have no idea. I do know that this is very harmful to the readers Ms. Read seeks to inform. The negative spin of this article is possibly just the excuse her readers need to continue their procrastination of responsible long-term care planning.

It’s also incorrect information. The truth is that LTCi is an absolute bargain when you factor in how probable it is that any of us will need care, along with the often catastrophic costs of care. Ms. Read alludes to this, but I think most readers will miss this information due to being more absorbed by her negative spin.

Make a Gift of Long-term Care Insurance

May 6, 2011 by Honey Leave a Comment

Mothers spend their lives worrying about you – and they never stop. But as mothers grow older, they have another worry: becoming a burden to their children.

With Mother’s Day approaching, why not purchase long-term care insurance (LTCi) for your parents? There’s not a more appropriate, caring, considerate gift. Siblings can chip in and wind up with very, very low premiums.

LTCi is the gift that ensures dignity, options, choices and access if care is needed. LTCi greatly contributes to keeping families united and stress-free. Since LTCi provides the money to access the most desirable care options, LTCi policyholders often access the right kind of care, sooner than their people with no LTCi.

Without LTCi, families often experience great stress, panic and overwhelming expenses because they are forced to react after a health event triggers a care need. These families are not prepared, and family members can be at odds with each other about the best course of action. Sadly, this discord can carry forward to become mom or dad’s undesired legacy. How I wish I hadn’t seen so many completely avoidable instances where this happened!

If you are still mired in a state of denial about why more and more people understand that LTCi is an absolute necessity, please contact me.

I want to thank nationally syndicated columnist Terry Savage, whose May 4, 2009 article in the Chicago Sun-Times inspired me to post this blog again this year. Terry wrote a wonderful and powerful piece about giving long-term care insurance for Mother’s Day.

Fixing the CLASS Act

May 4, 2011 by Honey Leave a Comment

Here’s a terrific article in the April 29, 2011 New York Times by finance columnist Ron Lieber titled, ” Fixing the CLASS Act to Make Long-Term Care Affordable.”

Mr. Lieber accurately describes how “pie-in-the-sky” unrealistic and economically catastrophic enactment of the proposed CLASS Act LTC is likely to be. CLASS Act LTC, which would be government run long-term care insurance (LTCi), is a little known provision that was included in the passage of health care reform last year.

If you are using enactment of CLASS Act LTC as one more excuse to put off having a conversation about responsible LTCi planning, I urge you to read this brief article.

Affluent People Want LTCi (Long-Term Care Insurance) Badly

April 29, 2011 by Honey Leave a Comment

A new study by the Urban Institute dated March 29, 2011 (2100 M Street NW Washington, DC 20037) shows that the affluent are not affluent by accident.

Of all the excuses I hear, “I’ll just self-insure for LTC (long-term care)” ranks first. It definitely takes first place in both the most frequent and irrational excuse categories.

Of course, people of all income levels often give me this excuse…and many others. What this new survey demonstrates, however, is that affluent people (those making over $100,000/year) are more likely to buy LTCi.

According to the survey, Americans aged 55 years and older with annual incomes over $100,000 are twice as likely own LTCI (19.3% versus 10.3%)

In my world, “I’ll just self-insure” is code for “I think I’ll take that diving vacation in Tahiti. It’s much more fun than talking about responsible LTC planning now to avoid stress, strife and possible financial catastrophe later.” It could also be code for, “I can’t watch football games on the old 40″ HD TV anymore. I need a bigger, newer TV now!”

In short, earners of over $100,000/year are more likely to say, “I think I’ll take that diving trip to the Bahamas or the Florida Keys this year, not Tahiti. This way, I can still see magnificent sea creatures, relax, and have a great vacation. And I can afford reasonable $1,000-3,000/year LTCi premiums at the same time.”

I Love You, Ron Hagelman

April 21, 2011 by Honey Leave a Comment

Here’s a link to Ron Hagelman’s column in the March, 2011 edition of Broker World Magazine.

An excerpt from Ron’s piece:

“As mentioned in earlier columns: There is an elephant in the room that will not go away. Its presence should be crowding out any breathing room remaining to maintain a seemingly impenetrable wall of self-deception. In recent speeches, our Health and Human Services Secretary has concluded her long term care conversation by clearly defining the presence of the massive pachyderm: ‘In the years to come, nearly every American family will have a grandmother or a father or a sister or a son who needs daily help because of a disability.’

As one of those involved in sales every day, I remain puzzled, perplexed and peeved at the amazingly resilient ability to ignore the size, girth and smell of our extra large peanut-eating friend. It must somehow appear not to be a real elephant. It must miraculously be seen as only the illusion of an elephant.

The only way I can explain the persistent ability to so completely ignore the obvious is that this must be the proverbial pink elephant. An elephant that can appear and disappear based on one’s level of alcohol intake. But don’t be fooled, that pink elephant is on a 24/7 eating binge!

Again quoting the HHS ringmaster: ‘Approximately 10 million Americans need long term care services and support, ranging from having an aide visit for a few hours a week to living in a nursing home with around the clock care. As Americans age, that number will rise steadily; by 2020, the estimate is that 15 million Americans will need some kind of care…We know that one out of six people who reach the age of 65 will spend more than $100,000 on long term care.’”

Ron, I love you. Thanks for making me laugh out loud. I read this to my husband, and although he is not involved in the insurance industry, he enjoyed a hearty laugh, too – especially because he HAS long-term care insurance.

Although my colleague Ron writes for a trade journal, “lay” readers will easily understand it. I hope you’ll read Ron’s column. Be amused, but take what he says to heart.

Request a Free, No-Obligation LTCi Quote

Media Getting it Right

Make a Gift of Long-term Care Insurance

Fixing the CLASS Act

Affluent People Want LTCi (Long-Term Care Insurance) Badly

I Love You, Ron Hagelman

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