Black Caregivers Value Long-Term Care Insurance: Nationwide
About 92% of Black caregivers surveyed said COVID-19 has increased the importance of having long-term care insurance.
Black caregivers may be more interested in long-term care (LTC) planning arrangements than other U.S. consumers, and they may be getting less professional LTC planning help.
The Nationwide Retirement Institute, an arm of Columbus, Ohio-based Nationwide Financial, has included data supporting that possibility in a summary of results from a new online survey of about 313 Black adults, ages 24 and older, who are or who have been caregivers.
About 92% of the Black caregivers told the survey team that the COVID-19 pandemic has made having long-term care insurance (LTCI) more important than ever, according to Nationwide.
About 81% of all caregivers surveyed by Nationwide have said the pandemic makes owning LTCI coverage more important than ever.
But only about 4% of the Black caregivers surveyed said they had talked to a financial professional about long-term care costs, according to Nationwide.
Nationwide found evidence that Black caregivers may be doing better at informal LTC planning; 64% of Black caregivers surveyed said they had discussed long-term care with their family. Only 41% of all caregivers Nationwide has surveyed have said they have talked about long-term care with their family.
But only 58% of Black caregivers said they feel well-prepared financially for current or potential caregiving responsibilities, compared with 77% of all caregivers surveyed, according to Nationwide.
Kristi Rodriguez, the vice president of the Nationwide Retirement Institute, said in a comment on the survey results, included in the results announcement, that the COVID-19 pandemic has increased the importance of all forms of financial planning, including long-term care planning.
“One of the greatest gifts you can give your loved ones is having a plan for when you need caregiving,” Rodriguez said.