Best Time to Buy Long-Term Care Insurance (LTCi)

I read an article with a positive spin on LTCi from Reuters  yesterday titled “Best Time to Buy Long-Term Care Insurance” by Toddi Gutner, Reuters US Edition, Prism Money, November 18, 2010.

Here are my the comments on it:

Thanks for an article with a well-deserved positive slant on LTCi, even though there is inaccurate info in it. You have listened to advisors who insist on selling short/fat policies. $300/day or $9,000/month LTCi policies are not the correct match for everyone at all. As well, “Most companies have a 10-year pay period.” is absolutely false, especially in TX. These are not the most egregious faults of this article, however. This is simply evidence that Nick Erin is giving bad advice.

Here is an egregious statement: “In some cases, however, “people don’t really need the product,” says Erin. LTC insurance is for income protection and sometimes “Medicaid is a more viable option for people who don’t have an estate,” he says.

I ask:

1. Have you been in a Medicaid-paid nursing facility lately?
2. With today’s government finances, are you banking on having Medicaid survive in its current state? My policyholders and I are not. In fact I have sold a lot of LTC insurance to people with little or no estate who insist on doing everything possible to preserve their dignity, options and family structure by purchasing LTC insurance.