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75 Facts About LTC Insurance

November 17, 2017 by Honey Leveen Leave a Comment

Morningstar reporter Christine Benz has a profound understanding of the need for long term care (LTC) planning. In her August 2017 column she lists 75 solid facts about LTC insurance and the amount of care you might need. She acknowledges that it’s not a popular subject; there seem to be more questions than answers.

Facts About LTC Insurance

In an effort to provide more answers, Benz provides “the numbers”. For example:

6.3 million — the number of Americans who need long term care due to their inability to carry out simple, everyday tasks.

$30 billion — the amount spent on long term care in the U.S. in 1980.

$225 billion — the amount spent on long term care in the U.S. in 2015.

$217,820 — estimated end-of-life costs in the patient’s last 5 years of life, without dementia.

37 billion hours — the annual amount of long term care provided by family & friends in 2013.

70% — percentage of unpaid caregivers who suffer in their jobs due to their caregiving duties.

You can read the full list in the article.

NOTE: When you click through to Benz’s article, you’ll see that each of these numbers is linked to a reliable report or study.

Now that you know…

The decision to prepare for the uncertainty that is our future is a big one. It is my hope that the facts provided in this article help guide you to making a choice to protect you and your family. The need for future protection is real. Ignoring the facts only increases your risk, with huge, sometimes catastrophic consequences. This can affect your finances, your quality of care, your end-of-life comfort and the relationships among your surviving family members.

People do not want to admit that after a lifetime of independence, the last years of their lives could be spent needing help with everyday tasks. For the nearly 30 years of my career, none of peoples’ excuses to avoid a conversation about LTC planning have changed.

If you already own LTC insurance, kudos to you! This article will give you well-deserved peace of mind. If you have not already planned for your LTC, Ms. Benz and I hope you will take the facts to heart, and make decisive LTC plans, now!

To receive your own customized quote for Long Term Care Insurance, click here.

Who Buys Long Term Care Insurance?

November 8, 2017 by Honey Leave a Comment

A report by AHIP and Lifeplans, two highly reputable entities, came out at the beginning of 2017 that studied which consumers chose to purchase long term care insurance (LTCi) over the last 25 years. They wanted to determine “Who Buys Long Term Care Insurance” and what has changed in the marketplace over time.

They looked at purchasing trends, attitudes around the need for long term care, the perceived role of the federal government, family responsibility and protecting a legacy. One thing is certain: the need for long term care is being more widely recognized.

This report has a ton of valuable information. To read the juicy details, you can read the full results here. For now, let’s take a look at Buyers vs. Non-buyers.

Do You Fit the Profile?

Demographics

Buyers are more likely to be married, college-educated, working, and have high income and assets.
Non-buyers have slightly lower assets. This is echoing what we see every day in our business. There has been a shift in LTCi sales to a much more affluent client than 25 years ago.

Opinions & Attitudes

Buyers are planners. Buyers are more likely to think that they will need LTC in the future in comparison to non-buyers. Conversely, non-buyers choose not to plan for their future medical needs.
Buyers worry less about paying for LTC services than non-buyers. Non-buyers understand that if they need LTC services, the government will not be paying for it, although many non-buyers mistakenly believe that their needs will be provided for by the government.
Buyers tend to believe that they will probably require care in a nursing home or in their own homes at some point in the future. Non-buyers don’t think this is need will likely arise in their lives.

Cost Factors

For non-buyers, cost is the major barrier to becoming a buyer. This hasn’t changed in 25 years. Other reasons include: skepticism about insurance companies, lack of understanding of the real risk of LTC and confusion about what the state and federal governments will or won’t pay for.
Most buyers would prefer smaller, more frequent rate increases than larger, less frequent rate increases.
More than ¾ of non-buyers would be interested in purchasing LTCi if they could deduct the premium from their taxes. They believe that the government should encourage people to buy LTCi by making it fully tax deductible.
Non-buyers favor a government stop loss program of catastrophic coverage where they would buy a smaller LTCi policy that would wrap around a public program. Members of the general population believe in the public financing of LTC.

Other Decisions

For non-buyers, ⅓ don’t plan to purchase in the future, but ⅔ do plan to become buyers at a later date. These later buyers view LTCi as part of a retirement plan and believe that they can postpone becoming buyers until they are closer to retirement.
Most buyers understood that waiting resulted in higher premiums, so they started years before The majority of buyers cited the reason they didn’t delay this purchase until retirement was their understanding that the cost of insurance would increase in the future.
Most buyers don’t buy without seeking advice from other people. Those who most impacted their LTCi buying decision were their spouses/partners and their insurance agents. Most recently, financial advisors are becoming more influential in this decision-making process.
70% of non-buyers say they would be more interested in becoming a buyer if they were able to comparison shop on the internet.

What we see consistently, for over 25 years, is that the #1 reason people buy LTCi is for preservation of assets.

So… Who buys long term care insurance? Maybe you!

Click here to receive a free quote for long term care insurance.

Affluent People Should Self-Insure for LTC, Right?

October 31, 2017 by Honey Leveen Leave a Comment

Many affluent people believe that they’re better off using their own money to self-insure long term care (LTC) needs. They view their savings and investments as their personal safety net, their rainy day fund. And yet, with all that financial preparation, they still can’t face the facts when their health declines and it becomes time to get extra care. Acknowledging the truth about your health is very emotional, no matter how much money you have.

When You Self-Insure Long Term Care

The easy part is recognizing that you will, at some time in the distant future, need long term care. Choosing to fund these needs from personal savings could end up working against you.

First of all, with no formal policy in place, how do you know when it’s the right time to start stepping up your level of care? Your long term care insurance has specific guidelines.
Secondly, an LTC insurance plan provides a blueprint for your loved ones to follow. Without this blueprint, nobody really knows how much care you intended to receive.
Even for the highly affluent, financial planners describe unplanned LTC costs as a dangerous “spending shock” that should be avoided.

Once you have a good LTC insurance plan in place, be sure to let your family know about it. Share your plans so they know what you want. Unnecessary sibling disagreements about money may be avoided.

Both affluent and non-affluent families suffer from postponing receiving the care that they need in their later years.

Here’s a great story by Christine Benz, who shares in her opening paragraphs how her parents could well afford to self-insure for long-term care (LTC), but her family denied the need!

Check out my testimonials page for examples of affluent and non-affluent families where LTCi ownership made a huge difference for the better.

I encourage you to avoid denial of your need for long term care! Use your LTCi as you originally intended: to prevent you from being a burden on those you love. Live out your life in comfort and grace!

Click here if you’d like a free quote on long term care insurance for you or someone you love.

How Could This Happen? A Story of Procrastination

September 18, 2017 by Honey Leveen Leave a Comment

“June 22, 2012 – Patient needs assistance at home, currently does not need medical care. Patient lives very remotely and may not be able to find certified caretakers,” read the physician’s comments on the “Evaluation of Cognitive Impairment” form. And just like that, the patient (my client) became eligible to start receiving long term care insurance payments. “Diagnosis: G30.1 Alzheimer’s”

With this diagnosis, many of us would immediately spring into research mode. We would take a deep dive into the science around this disease, build an understanding of the future symptoms and also determine what care would be needed as the disease advanced.

Many of us would, but not everyone. Because in order to begin the research, we must first accept the reality of our new circumstances.

Three Years Later…

His wife (also my client) called me two years ago, asking me to review his policy with her. We discussed his diagnosis. I recommended that she hire home care, as originally recommended by the doctor. I also suggested that she research other options that would probably be needed in the future, like assisted living.

His long term care insurance (LTCi) policy currently pays $208 per day for home care, assisted living, nursing home care, and more. This couple is eligible to receive over $6,000 per month! It would have begun payments on the first day he needed care, covering up to four years at home and unlimited time in an assisted living facility.

Last Month: Still Not Claiming Long Term Care Insurance Payments

His wife called again just a couple of weeks ago, asking for another policy review. I could tell she was stressed and distracted. Her mind was unfocused. She was too distraught to fully digest my answers to her questions. She also had questions that had nothing to do with the LTCi policy.

I could feel the fear, as she was finally facing the reality of her husband’s condition. I wish I could have sat with her, rubbed her shoulders, and given her a hot cup of tea. In retirement, this couple had moved to a very rural area in Colorado and they have limited access to traditional care.

By the way, even in very rural areas, there are fantastic alternative solutions available, including ways to locate qualified caregivers. Especially, like my client, if your LTCi provides the financial coverage for these needs.

The High Cost of Delayed Filing

Primary family caregivers typically suffer physical, mental, and financial problems twice as often as non-caregivers. Purchasing a LTCi policy will significantly ease these challenges. But that’s only the first step.

You also have to acknowledge the seriousness of the situation and ask for help. You’ve faithfully paid the premiums all these years. This help is yours to receive.

The husband’s long term care insurance payments could have already provided many tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars in claim payments by now. Their lives could have been far less stressful with more joy and dignity.

With LTCi, as with other things in life, planning ahead can greatly reduce suffering. This couple did the right thing, the wise thing, when they bought their LTCi. When they heard the Alzheimer’s diagnosis, they sunk into denial. Very, very powerful, unnecessesarily stressful denial, with expensive consequences, both financially and emotionally.

Your LTCi purchase is about preserving wealth. But more importantly, your LTCi purchase is about having dignity, options, and access to high quality care when needed.

We have control over whether to be honest about the truth or deny it.

Take the first step in planning for an easier life. Click here to receive a free quote for long term care insurance.

When to File Your LTCi Claim? Don’t Wait!

September 4, 2017 by Honey Leveen Leave a Comment

When my clients buy long term care insurance (LTCi), they are typically healthy. The idea of actually using the policy benefits feels waaay out in the future. So when their health begins to decline, there can be a lot of emotional denial. They don’t want to accept that their change in health status is not temporary and they postpone asking for help. They forfeit collecting many thousands of dollars from their LTCi. This is all unnecessary hardship. The solution? File your long term care insurance claim as soon as you qualify.

Time to Get Real

Your close circle of support (spouse, kids, friends & neighbors) will pitch in and help you. They may also be in denial. They’ll do their best to provide the care they think you need, but their good intentions can only go so far.

Family and friends are not prepared or trained for the level of support needed. Often, there is undue stress, confusion, dysfunction, depression and resentment. People are re-acting, not pro-acting to circumstances. This produces the opposite of the dignified, graceful decline you envisioned for yourself.

When You File Your Long Term Care Insurance Claim

LTCi policies pay out large – often lavish – sums of money, enabling you to freely choose and access the type of care you want, with little pause or concern about money. LTCi’s purpose is to ensure your dignity, options, and choices. This is why you purchased it! If dignity, options and choices are what you want, this cannot happen until you are honest and realistic about your condition and prognosis, from the date of diagnosis! This is when you need to need to research, explore, make concrete LTC plans, and make them known.

Affluent people should self-insure for LTC, right?

You might think affluent people with more than enough money to “self-insure” for future long term care would recognize when it was time to pay for extra care. Nope! The decision to request help often isn’t about financial ability to pay. Facing the true condition of declining health is primarily an emotional matter.

For affluent people, having long term care insurance (and letting your family know you have it), provides a blueprint for your loved ones to follow. Your family is more likely to know what you want even if you may not be able to tell them at the time. The costs of your health care are taken care of which can help avoid unnecessary disagreements among your children. But not until you file your long term care insurance claim.

Both affluent and non-affluent families suffer from denial of long term care need. Yet the cost of this care can be so great that, even for the highly affluent, financial planners describe unplanned LTC costs as a dangerous “spending shock” that should be avoided.

Peruse my testimonials page for examples of families from both ends of the income spectrum where LTCi ownership made a huge difference for the best.

Here’s a great story by Christine Benz, who shares in her opening paragraphs how her parents could afford to self-insure for long-term care (LTC), but her family denied the need!

I encourage you to avoid denial of your need for long-term care! Use your LTCi as you originally intended: to prevent you from being a burden on those you love, and live out your life in comfort and grace! And it all begins when you file your long term care insurance claim.