Close Close
Popular Financial Topics Discover relevant content from across the suite of ALM legal publications From the Industry More content from ThinkAdvisor and select sponsors Investment Advisor Issue Gallery Read digital editions of Investment Advisor Magazine Tax Facts Get clear, current, and reliable answers to pressing tax questions
Luminaries Awards
ThinkAdvisor

Life Health > Health Insurance > Health Insurance

Study: LTC Claims Often End Quickly

X
Your article was successfully shared with the contacts you provided.

Buying even a few years of long term care coverage really can make a difference.

Researchers at the American Association for Long-Term Care Insurance, Westlake Village, Calif., have published figures supporting that argument in a study based on an analysis of claims filed in connection with 1.6 million in-force LTC insurance policies.

The researchers looked both at open claims and closed claims.

Only 33% of the claims that were open at the time the study was conducted had been open for longer than 24 months, and only 16% of the open claims had lasted longer than 36 months.

Claim durations were even shorter for closed claims, AALTCI researchers report.

Only 14% of the closed claims had lasted longer than 24 months, and only 5.6% of the closed claims had lasted longer than 36 months.

“How much you pay for coverage depends to a large degree on how much protection you get,” says AALTCI Executive Director Jesse Slome.

An LTC insurance policy that provides lifetime coverage may cost only 35% more than a policy that provides 36 months of coverage, Slome notes.

But cost is the main reason that many consumers give for not buying LTC insurance, and the results of the AALTCI new analysis back up the argument that buying a few years of coverage may make sense for some consumers who are unable to afford lifetime coverage, Slome says.


NOT FOR REPRINT

© 2024 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.