LTC Almanac, part 1

Second is information on the benefits that most agents are recommending. Plus, I will be providing more helpful facts in my next column.

PART 1 – Care facts

1. About 70 percent of Americans over age 65 will require some type of long-term care services during their lifetime.¹ (So the question becomes when and not if!)
2. 3.9 years – Average length of long-term care claim lasting longer than one year.²
3. 42 percent of the 13 million people receiving long-term care services are between the ages of 18 and 64.³
4. Four to eight years – Average life expectancy after Alzheimer’s diagnosis after age 65.⁴
5. Alzheimer’s is leading cause of claim from age 65. Cancer is leading cause of claim below age 65.⁵
6. Where new claims began in 2012^5: 
   - 51 percent – Home care; 
   - 18.5 percent – Assisted living; 
   - 30.5 percent – Nursing home. (My conclusion – Almost 70 percent of claimants receive benefits outside of a nursing home.) 
7. Age 79 – Average attained age at commencement of claim.⁵
8. Average length of stay^5: 
   - Assisted living facility claims – 958 days (2.6 years).
   - Nursing home and home health care – about 700 days (1.9 years).
9. For the three-year benefit period, only eight in 100 claimants exhausted their policies.⁵
10. New claims that opened in 2012 by sex⁵:
    - 67 percent – Female.
    - 33 percent – Male.
11. Statistics from the 3in4 Need More Campaign⁶ :
    - 74 percent of consumers ages 55 to 65 said they are concerned about needing long-term care.⁶ 
    - 77 percent of Americans age 30 to 65 think they should know more about long-term care insurance than they currently do.⁶ 

PART 2 – Benefits Being Recommended⁵ 

1. 2012 sales by benefit period:
   - 3 years – 31.2 percent.
   - 4 years – 27 percent. 
   - 5 years – 17.4 percent.
2. 2012 sales by daily benefit amount:  
   - 34 percent – $100 to $149.
   - 35.2 percent – $150 to $199.
   - 14.2 percent – $200 to $249.
3. Type of inflation protection:
   - 42 percent – 5 percent compound for life.
   - 30 percent – 3 percent compound.
   - 9 percent - 5 percent simple.

SOURCES

1. The Urban Institute, May 5, 2006, & The Congressional Research Service, June 28, 2004
2. Claims data for Genworth Life Insurance Company and affiliates – December 1974 – December 31, 2012
3. Georgetown University Long-Term Care Financing Project. “Long-Term Care Financing Policy Options for the Future,” June 2007.
4. 2012 Alzheimer’s Disease Facts and Figures, Alzheimer’s Association, March 2012
5. American Association for Long-Term Care Insurance, 2014 LTCi Sourcebook
6. 2010 Prudential Long-Term Care Consumer Awareness & Attitudes Study

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See also:

• Who buys LTCI?
• Don’t fear the phone
• Don’t fear the phone, part 2