Advisors Embrace Asset-Based LTC Insurance

Sales of asset-based long-term care insurance policies, those that offer an LTC component attached to a different kind of policy, are growing by leaps and bounds, and they can be easier for advisors to deal with, according to new data from the American Association for Long-Term Care Insurance, released Tuesday.

Jesse Slome, the association’s executive director, said of the data, part of the association’s annual study of new policy sales, “Asset-based or linked products are experiencing growth as they are highly suitable for a very specific consumer. Financial planners and investment professionals who may not like the more complex nature of traditional long-term care insurance policies especially find them easier to sell.”

More than half of new life-plus-LTC policies were sold to individuals 65 and older. Of women in that age group who purchased new policies, 55.7% included the LTC component. Among men in that age group, 51.5% did so. Among individuals ages 55 to 64, the numbers were a bit lower, with men buying that type more often (37.1%) than women (34%). Sales of such policies increased substantially, too, with premiums in 2010 up 79% compared with 2009, and the number of covered lives increasing 83%.