Who will plan for long-term care?

High-income, well-educated consumers seem to be more likely than other consumers to buy private long-term care insurance (LTCI).

Going up a level in terms of income or education each seems to increase the odds that a consumer will buy LTCI by about 10 percent.

Similarly, each increase in a consumer’s level of confidence in ability to find long-term care (LTC) information correlates with an 8 percent increase in the odds that the consumer will buy private LTCI.

Higher-income, well-educated consumers are also more likely than other consumers to have looked for information about LTC services and to have created advance directives that explain how they want loved ones to handle their care if they became incapacitated.

Analysts at Langer Research Associates have published those findings in a report on LTC planning based on results from a recent telephone survey of 1,019 adults ages 40 and older. The SCAN Foundation, an organization created by SCAN Health Plan, commissioned the survey.