Long Term Care Insurance (LTCI) for individuals refers to policies purchased by you or a family member through an insurance agent or broker, not through the workplace. You should purchase a LTCI policy from a trained professional, not just someone who happens to be licensed by your state to sell the stuff. Many agents and brokers can sell LTCI, but most know little if anything about the complicated policy features and how they work.
There are many riders and options to a LTCI policy that, if ignored or forgetten about, could have serious implications for you and your family. The consequences of your decisions may not impact you for many, many years into the future, so it is vital to select the correct set of riders and options at time of purchase. Brewster Hill Insurance principal David B. Rubin has been selling LTCI since 2004 and has attended training seminars, state classes, and “boot camps” on LTCI, and has obtained the CASL (Chartered Advisor on Senior Living) designation from the American College.
There are only a handful of companies left that sell LTCI, many having dropped out for fear of significant losses from claims. This has two important implications: First is that the future cost of nursing homes and home health care is anticipated to be so high, even large insurance companies like MetLife and TransAmerica cannot afford it! The second is that picking the right provider is extremely important. LTCI from public stock companies like Genworth and John Hancock may be cheaper now (while they hope to make a profit on volume), but in the long term may not be able to handle the influx of claims without passing down significant price increases. LTCI from mutual companies like Mass Mutual, Northwestern, and New York Life may be more expensive now but will be cheaper in the long run, when you need them 20,30, or even 40 years from now, because they won’t need to increase prices so much, if at all.
There are plenty of statistics on the Internet showing why you should buy LTCI, so we won’t insert them in here. Just know that when you are ready to really look into purchasing this important insurance you can be satisfied that we know what we are doing!
