It's about the benefits

This week, my group, the American Association for Long-Term Care Insurance, has been trying to use the Internet and the traditional media to explain the value of what the long-term care insurance (LTCI) industry does.

It’s easy to get distracted by the news of the day, but here’s something else to think about: Some 264,000 individuals were receiving LTCI benefit payments as of Dec. 31, 2012.

Private insurers paid $6.6 billion in benefits last year to individuals who were getting care at home, in assisted living communities and in skilled nursing facilities.

Americans are living longer, and more need long-term care (LTC) services. LTCI carriers — and the people who serve as LTCI agents, LTCI brokers and LTC planners — are helping the policyholders pay the many bills not covered by Medicare or traditional health insurance.

As in the past, the leading causes for long-term care insurance claims continued to include Alzheimer’s disease, stroke, arthritis and cancer. 

Female policyholders accounted for roughly two-thirds of the long-term care insurance claims and benefit dollars paid by the industry.