Where Will Your LTCI Clients Die?

One question would be: How many of the older Americans who die in nursing homes do so because they want to die in nursing homes, and how many would have rather been in their own homes but followed the path of least resistance into the nursing home?

How many of those Americans who would have preferred to die at home could have done so more easily if they’d had LTCI policies with home care benefits?

How does sex affect where Americans ages 65 and older die?

Women tend to outlive their husbands, and that often determines where they die.

A husband falls ill. The wife cares for him at home, and he dies either in the hospital or at home.

By the time the widowed wife falls ill, she may be living alone, and moving into a nursing home may be the best option.

The result of the differences in men and women’s lifespans: Women are a little less likely to die in the hospital than men, a little less likely to die at home, and much more likely to die in a nursing home.

Some LTCI carriers have talked about being less idealistic about rates and more numbers-oriented, by eliminating unisex pricing where possible and charging different rates for men than for women.

The government figures drive home the point that LTCI or other LTC financing options may well be worth more for women than for men, even if the options cost more for women than for men, because women are, clearly, more likely to use formal LTC services and facilities than men are.

Here’s another table drawn from the Older Americans report that shows why women have to take planning for LTC costs and other costs associated with old age so seriously.

A majority of older men share their lives and finances with wives: Even when men are ages 85 or older, 58% are still married.

Meanwhile, even in the 65-74 age group, just 56% of women are married. More than 80% of the women ages 75 and older who are single are living alone because because they are widows, not because they are divorced or because they never married.