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

Policing the Media, Again

April 13, 2011 by Honey Leave a Comment

Here are my comments about a piece in the April 13, 2011 StarTribune, titled, “Keep those fingers crossed: long-term care insurance“. The reporter, Katy Read, is trying to do the right thing but failing:

Katy, you have attempted to do the right thing by imparting some truthful and accurate information about the odds of needing long-term care and the cost of LTC insurance (LTCi).

Unfortunately for the public you strive to help, you have sandwiched this info into a bad spin. You have erroneously stated, twice, once in the first paragraph, that LTCi is expensive. This indicates to me that you, like the public you seek to inform, are in denial that you might need care. If this is what you think, even if subconsciously, even a $100/year LTCi premium might be too high.

The truth is that contrasted with how likely it is any of us will need care (which you correctly state in your article), and how many thousands upon thousands of dollars people are collecting from their LTCi, the premium is paltry.

It would be great if reporters could get the perspective correct and stop unfairly maligning this essential coverage. I say LTCi is essential, but this is only if one wants to make certain they have all their care choices and options and wish to preserve their wealth without being forced to liquidate it under penalty or stress. If you won’t mind suffering such consequences, you don’t need LTCi.

It would be great if you could report on how easily, well and often these policies pay, and how much better life and legacy turns out for LTCi owners and their families when care is needed.
Honey Leveen
www.honeyleveen.com

False LTCi Coverage Harms the Public

April 1, 2011 by Honey Leave a Comment

Main Stream Media (MSM) almost always casts Long-Term Care Insurance (LTCi) in a negative light. I seldom read an MSM article about LTCi that dispels myths.

The recent Prudential survey I blogged about on March 28, 2011 found that most people lack much factual information about LTCi. My experience with clients strongly supports the survey findings.

Knowledge is power. Lack of knowledge leads to fear and LTCi bashing. What a disservice this is to the public.

Lately, for example, the media seem to enjoy harping on the withdrawal of Met Life and others from the LTCi marketplace. They fail to mention that companies like LifeSecure and Humana are entering the LTCi marketplace. We’re obviously in a harsh economy, and many companies across all industries are withdrawing from markets or closing down. But today’s economy has not caused a single LTCi carrier to go belly up and default on its obligation to policyholders. MSM doesn’t mention this. Rarely have I seen MSM articles describe how beautifully LTCi pays even though such stories are abundant.

Another common thing MSM does to cast LTCi in a bad light is to refer to LTCi as expensive. Simple math that anyone can do on a calculator shows that if or when long-term care is needed, policyholders typically re-coup every dollar paid in premium within a few months. LTCi premiums are far more stable than those of other insurance policies. Contemporary LTCi may have rate hikes but they are uncommon and limited by the regulatory authorities. So which is preferable? Paying affordable LTCi premiums regularly and being able to access the long-term care of your choice, or hemorrhaging savings to pay for care?

Why does MSM like to diss the LTCi industry so much? I believe it’s mostly due to lack of knowledge, which in turn leads to fear.

I encourage you to visit www.honeyleveen.com and go to the References page. You will find links to several reputable sites that provide accurate statistics and information about LTCi.

Family Struggles to Provide Care to Loved Ones

April 1, 2011 by Honey Leave a Comment

This March 27, 2011 Florida Times-Union article by Roger Bull titled “Many Struggling Financially to provide care for elderly family members” poignantly describes the hardships that middle-class families endure when their needful parent does not own long-term care insurance (LTCi) yet needs long-term care.

This article does mention using long-term care insurance to successfully fund long-term care needs and avoid the type of hardship his article describes. Unfortunately, Mr. Bull seems subject to the same lack of information about LTCi that the general public has. He spends the majority of his article describing the hardship of his people needing care, but he devotes only a minor amount of space to LTCi protection. He describes the $122/month LTCi premium as being high but fails to mention the many thousands of dollars paid out if LTC is needed. In another example, he states LTCi will pay for a limited amount of care as if this were a bad thing. LTCi premiums are based on what you need and what you can afford. No LTCi policy, no insurance policy in fact, pays for all expenses. All are limited. It is not necessary to have an insurance policy that pays for all costs. As long as an LTCi policy is paying enough for you to 1) access the care you choose, when you need it and 2) conserve your wealth, even if you have to cover some of the cost of care. Yes, LTCi is limited, and it can also benefit families significantly.

I struggle to educate the uninformed public and the uninformed mainstream media every day! It’s very unfortunate that so many myths about LTCi continue.

New York Times Describes Need for LTCi

March 31, 2011 by Honey Leave a Comment

A March 23, 2001 New York Times article titled “Reaching Retirement Goals After Long-Term Neglect” by Carmen Wong Ulrich describes the more and more common situation of parents needing to move in with children.

This article describes a 52 year-old Baby Boomer who has not done adequate financial planning. In addition, her 89 year-old mother now lives with her.

While framing her story with this true, firsthand scenario, Ms. Wong Ulrich reports accurately on the necessity of owning long-term care insurance (LTCi).

www.3in4needmore.com

March 30, 2011 by Honey 2 Comments

3in4needmore info

www.3in4needmore.com is an exciting new campaign that is the long-term care insurance (LTCi) industry’s version of “got milk?”. We hope it will be at least as popular.

The campaign’s purpose is to raise public awareness of the need for responsible long-term care planning…right away. The campaign urges people to get educated about the risks and costs of needing long-term care before it’s too late.

The name comes from a recent survey by Prudential Financial Inc. indicating that 74% of consumers ages 55 to 65 said they are concerned about needing some kind of long-term care. That’s about three in every four of us!

Consumer concern has not yet been translated into action in most cases. In the Prudential survey, 25% of all consumers admitted that they have no idea what a day in a nursing home costs. And only 22% of the participants mentioned the idea of using private LTC insurance to pay for care. (Prudential Financial Inc. Newark, N.J 2010 Long Term Care Cost Study)

According to www.longtermcare.gov, the National Clearinghouse for Long-Term Care Information created by the US Department of Health and Human Services, “…at least 70 percent of people over age 65 will require some long-term care services at some point in their lives. And, contrary to what many people believe, Medicare and private health insurance programs do not pay for the majority of long-term care services that most people need – help with personal care such as dressing or using the bathroom independently. Planning is essential for you to be able to get the care you might need.”

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Policing the Media, Again

False LTCi Coverage Harms the Public

Family Struggles to Provide Care to Loved Ones

New York Times Describes Need for LTCi

www.3in4needmore.com

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