Who should I be targeting for long-term care insurance? What are the surveys and studies showing about who is buying this protection and why?
America’s Health Insurance Plans (AHIP) periodically releases a study of the industry. Susan Coronal, executive director, LTC, shared the trade group’s most recent findings from “Who Buys Long-Term Care Insurance in 2010-2011?” The study identifies who purchases long-term care insurance (LTCI) and explores what motivates them to do so. It compares these findings with those who made the active decision to not buy LTCI and to the general population of Americans age 50 and older. The study also tracks how product purchase decisions have changed over the past 20 years.
Here are some of the findings:
• Individuals are buying LTCI to meet multiple objectives. About a third of buyers indicated that protecting their assets and estates was the single most important reason for purchase.
• For the most part, people do not decide to purchase LTC insurance on their own. Spouses, agents and financial planners were cited as having significant influence; only rarely do children take an active role in the purchase decision.
• The agent’s recommendation and insurer’s reputation are the reasons most often cited for the purchase of a particular company’s policy.
• Fifty-five percent of buyers cited “cost of insurance would increase in future” as the most important reason for purchasing their policies now.