I am more optimistic about the future of LTCI – and 2011 sales – than I have been in a while.
Some people will always be in denial about their probable need for care, as survey after survey has proven. This hasn’t changed, and won’t change that much.
What has changed is that LTCI is getting far more publicity than I’ve seen in the 20-plus years I’ve been working with it. What’s even more exciting is the change in the type of publicity. The tenor of today’s LTCI publicity is now positive – and this has happened almost abruptly.
Does anyone remember several years ago, when the few articles about LTCI were largely critical? Our small army of LTCI “crusaders” was often moved to write letters refuting the media’s abundant misinformation. Today, rather than portraying LTCI as a rip-off – out to get you, limited, restrictive, and too expensive – recent articles speak more about how much we need it, despite all its flaws. In some cases, the media is actually wooing us.
On what am I basing my statements? Some very unusual events have happened to me within a very short time.
Yesterday, I got a call from a local Fox TV news reporter who was referred to me by two or three colleagues. While I was disappointed that she didn’t locate me soon enough to book me as her on-air “expert,” I was able to provide her with a connection to a friend who spoke eloquently and from the heart about her husband’s long, expensive decline and how they didn’t obtain LTCI soon enough for him. The resulting piece on long term care is beautiful, factual, and positive.