Younger Long Term Care Insurance Applicants Save Money
There’s new fuel for countering the objection, “I’m too young for long-term care insurance.” A recent report from the American Association for Long-Term Care Insurance (AALTCI) determined that there is an economic incentive for applying for long-term care at an earlier age.
By examining the percentage of long-term care insurance applicants who qualify for preferred health discounts, the AALTCI determined that individuals who qualify for these discounts reduce their long-term care insurance costs by 10 to 20 percent each year. The savings can amount to hundreds of dollars a year for a couple.
The study, which looked at data from eight long-term care insurers representing a large portion of new individual policies sold in the United States, determined that people who qualify for preferred health discounts tend to be in their 50s, when nearly half (42 to 59 percent) of the applicants qualified. The number of people who qualified dropped significantly when applicants were in their 70s.
“Consumers understand the risk of needing long-term care at some point in their life as they age, … but people often wait too long to plan. Individuals don’t realize that a simple change in their health can cause one to pay more for insurance protection or make you completely ineligible for coverage at any price.”
EXCERPT FROM Wealth & Retirement Planner March/April 2006