Wealth Pathfinder » Long Term Care

Long Term Care Policy Rates Can are not Fixed

admin — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 11:38:56 +0000

When long term care policies are sold, people are reassured that the premiums will be stable. But they often forget this is not a guarantee and if the insurance company discovers they have underpriced a product for a class of people the premium will go up.

I have actually been impressed that John Hancock (Manulife) and Genworth have been able to keep their premiums as stable as they have, but when they discover underlying assumptions are wrong (like how many people will let their policy lapse), rate changes will come.

They scary part will be when the the baby boom hits the age where they start using significant amounts of long term care and if their usage differs wildly from the insurance companies expectations.

Map of Long Term Care Costs

admin — Thu, 22 May 2008 20:30:49 +0000

Genworth has created a map to see long term care costs in your state. It is mostly at the state level although many large cities have their own numbers. Metlife’s Nursing home survey covers more metropolitan areas if you can’t find yours here.

Tax Treatment of Long Term Care Insurance

admin — Thu, 22 Mar 2007 15:17:29 +0000

Leimberg Information Services has written a great summary of the tax treatment of long-term care Insurance.

For individuals, deductions flow through itemized medical expense deduction (subject to 7.5% floor) and if self-employed, through the self-employed health insurance deduction (subject to age based maximums).

2006 MetLife Market Survey of Nursing Home and Home Care Costs

admin — Tue, 03 Oct 2006 23:16:06 +0000

MetLife produces the most comprehensive survey of nursing home and home care costs. They update the survey every September. The 2006 update has just been published.

31 Flavors of Long Term Care

admin — Thu, 28 Sep 2006 22:40:22 +0000

When considering long term care needs in the future it is all too easy to assume the look of long term care tomorrow will be much as it is today. Here is an interesting interview that suggests the industry is in for radical changes as boomers age.

http://www.pbs.org/thoushalthonor/eden/index.html

Here is my favorite quote from the interview that captures its essence.

“…when the baby boomers were kids there were three flavors of ice cream, and that was it. And when they got done with ice cream, there’s a thousand flavors of ice cream. Well, right now there’s just a few flavors of long-term care for the elderly. When they get done, there will be a thousand flavors.”

While the interview does not give specifics on what those thousands of flavors will be, it does mean that when evaluating LTC insurance policies, pay special attention to how flexible the policies are to accommodate the new care paradigms that might develop.