Click to access 2024 Long term care insurance statistics

Costs for linked benefit long-term care insurance coverage are lower than a year ago according to the 2024 Long-Term Care Insurance Price Index released today by the American Association for Long-Term Care Insurance.

“Great news for aging individuals who are thinking about their risk of needing care one day,” states Jesse Slome, director of the long-term care insurance organization. The 2024 Long-Term Care Insurance Price Index is the organization’s annual compilation of costs for both traditional and linked benefit long-term care insurance.

”Interest rates are significantly higher than a year ago and that has enabled some insurers to reprice their products,” Slome explains. “Someone applying for new coverage in 2024 can obtain more coverage for less cost than basically the identical coverage purchased a year ago.”

According to the 2024 Price Index, a single 55-year-old male purchasing coverage that would provide around $520,000 of potential long-term care benefits at age 90 could expect to pay $5,022 in annual premiums. The same coverage would have cost $5,600 according to the Association’s 2023 LTC Price Index.

“Savings were higher for women according to our analysis and those who paid for coverage with a single lump sum would enjoy greater savings this year,” Slome added.

“There are more insurers offering various types of linked benefit products that combine life insurance with the potential for long-term care benefits,” Slome explained. “There are significant differences between many of these products and going on price alone or just a single recommendation from your financial representative isn’t always the best course of action.”

The American Association for Long-Term Care Insurance (AALTCI) advocates for the importance of planning and supports insurance professionals who market both traditional and hybrid LTC solutions. To learn more or to connect with linked-benefit long-term care insurance specialists visit the organization’s website or call 818-597-3227.

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Costs for long term care insurance have risen slightly for couples, increased more significantly for single women but have actually decreased for men according to the 2014 National Long Term Care Insurance Price Index.   The American Association for Long-Term Care Insurance (AALTCI) complies the yearly comparison of costs for 55, 60 and 65 year olds.

“We advocate a ‘Good, Better’ Best’ approach to long term care planning for those in their 50s and 60s,” explains Jesse Slome, director of the national trade group.  “Good coverage provides $164,000 of available benefits for each spouse.  Better coverage includes an option to add future coverage.  The Best option, also the most costly, includes an automatic inflation growth feature.”    Today’s average cost for ‘Best’ coverage for a 60-year-old couple each purchasing $164,000 of immediate coverage that grows to a combined benefit pool of $730,000 ($365,000 each) at age 85, is $3,840-per-year. “That’s a three percent increase from the 2012 average ($3,725) and 4.8 percent higher than 2012 ($3,663),” Slome shares.

According to the Association’s report, single women face the greatest cost increase compared to last year.  ”Last year, leading insurers began charging women higher premiums,” Slome explains.  “Women accounted for two-thirds of the $6.6 billion in long term care insurance claim benefits paid out.”    A 55-year-old single woman would pay an average of $1,225-per-year for the same level of benefits available to a single man for $925 according to AALTCI.   The typical single woman will pay an average of 12 percent more than in 2013.

The Association study continues to reveal a significant spread between rates charges by insurers.  “One insurer will literally charge more than double for virtually the same level of benefits,” Slome notes.   The AALTCI study reported differences that ranged from 31 percent to as much as 114 percent.  “No one insurance company is always the least nor always the most expensive,” Slome adds.

“More Americans are realizing that needing long term care is the single greatest threat to their lifestyle and retirement savings,” states Mike Skiens, President of MasterCare Solutions, a leading national distributor of long term care insurance.   “There’s greater interest than ever as more people understand that long term care insurance can be an affordable way to address this very real risk.”

Individuals interested in learning more about long term care insurance costs can contact the American Association for Long-Term Care Insurance by calling (818) 597-3227 or visit the organization’s website to connect with a designated specialist for a no-obligation cost comparison.

REPORTERS NOTE:  To obtain more information, please call AALTCI at 818-597-3227 or contact Jesse Slome at E: jslome @ aaltci.org

CONSUMERS SEEKING NO OBLIGATION LONG-TERM CARE INSURANCE COST COMPARISONS: Call the Association weekdays at 818-597-3227 or complete the online quote form and we’ll have a designated specialist connect with you.

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“For the first time, insurance agents and financial advisors throughout the U.S. and Canada will be able to watch and participate in conferences from their office or home,” announced Jesse Slome who heads up the new venture.  “The first conference being broadcast will be the American Association for Long Term Care Insurance’s 2014 LTC Solutions Sales Summit.   Agents will have free access to view keynote and workshop sessions taking place over the three-day event.

“Virtual conferences are increasingly popular across a variety of industries and there is enormous potential within insurance,” Slome notes.  “No travel time away from work or home and, no hotel or airline expenses make virtual conferences highly attractive and we expect thousands of agents will be watching the free online LTC Summit feed.”

Slome anticipates some 5,000 insurance professionals will sign-up to watch live feeds from the three-day national LTC Summit taking place this May in Kansas City.   “Watching sessions online is the next best thing to being at the actual event,” Slome adds.  “Viewers will be able to watch speakers, view their presentations and interact using Twitter all in real time.”

Following the conference, recorded sessions will be available from ‘On Demand’ conference with the added bonus of the first-ever Virtual Long Term Care Insurance Exhibit Hall.  “Conference exhibitors will have perpetual access to prospects,” Slome declares.

Virtual Insurance Conferences & Expos will initially partner with three insurance trade groups directed by Slome.  In addition to the American Association for Long Term Care Insurance, the new business has plans to broadcast future conferences held by the American Association for Medicare Supplement Insurance and the American Association for Critical Illness Insurance.  “We plan to also expand to other insurance conferences,” Slome commented.

To learn more visit the organization’s website at www.insuranceExpos.com or call (818) 597-3205.

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“So much prospecting and selling is being done over the phone and Internet that insurance agents need generic, educational tools to provide prospects and clients,” explains Jesse Slome, AALTCI’s executive director.  The new e-brochures are personalized with the agent’s name, contact information and photo.  “Personalized material is so important in terms of making a lasting impression to the long term care insurance prospect,” Slome adds.
The Association’s first two e-brochures deal with timely topic and are updated versions of the Association’s highly used print brochures.  “One explains simple ways to reduce the cost of long-term care insurance,” Slome notes.  “Consumers today are very price conscious and producers are having great success breaking through the misperception that long-term care insurance is expensive.”

The second focuses on long term care planning for women.  “Women are typically the decision influencers and there are millions of adult women living alone who should be interested in the subject,” Slome says.

Over 2.5 million long term care insurance print brochures have been distributed by the Association since it was established in 1998.  “There still is a great need for printed material,” Slome acknowledges, “but we live in a digital age of instant communication so e-brochures that can be personalized will grow in usage and acceptance.”

The American Association for Long-Term Care Insurance is the national trade organization exclusively focused on creating heightened consumer awareness and supporting insurance professionals who market long-term care solutions.

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“In any given year, some 40,000 insurance and financial professionals market long-term care insurance protection nationally,” explains Jesse Slome, AALTCI’s organization’s executive director.  “Those who are the most successful and committed to protecting the lives and financial well-being of consumers are most deserving of this recognition.” 

The industry awards recognize top producers for sales in categories including individual placed premium, multilife long-term care insurance premium as well as LTC hybrid products.  The complete listing of award recipients is published in the Association’s Long-Term Care Insurance Sourcebook.  In 2009, a new category was added to recognize producers who first began selling LTC insurance during the year.

2010 Top-10 Long-Term Care Insurance Producers (based on placed individual premium):

1.     Jay Rosen, Rosen Insurance Agency, Wellington, FL
2.       Paul LeWinter, ACSIA Long-Term Care Inc., Miami, FL
3.     Paul Isenberg, Long Term Care Advisors, W. Warwick, RI
4.     Richard Brief, Long Term Care Resources, Warren, NJ
5.     Anthony Stratidis, MS Consulting Group, Westbrook, CT
6.     Pattianne Baran, LTC Financial Partners, Lakewood, CT
7.     Matthew Brotherton, John Hancock, Richmond, VA
8.     Wayne Reynolds, ACSIA Long-Term care Inc., Concord, OH
9.     David Jeffrey, Genworth Financial, San Francisco, CA
10.     Sam Lowy, Lakewood, NJ

2010 Top MultiLife Long-Term Care Insurance Producers (premium)

1.     Jerry Manning, J. Manning & Associates, Chicago, IL
2.       Anthony Stratidis, MS Consulting Group, Westbrook, CT
3.     Steve Cain, LTCI Partners, Woodland Hills, CA

2010 Top Life + LTC Producers (premium)

1.     Brad Tisdale, Capstone Financial Assurance, Goleta, CA
2.       George Leamon, Lutgert Insurance, Naples, FL
3.     Richard Cohen, Aspen Cross Financial Group, Amherst, NH

2010 Top Annuity + LTC Producers (premium)

1.     Brad Tisdale, Capstone Financial Assurance, Goleta, CA
2.       Michael Tavel, Dunlap Tavel Wealth Management, Fishers, IN
3.     Ilan Koren, Long Term care Protection Choices, Wynnewood, PA

The 2010 Long-Term Care Insurance Rookie of the Year (individual placed premium)

Kurt Lauman, LTC Financial Partners, Kirkland, WA

Established in 1998, the American Association for Long-Term Care Insurance is the national association serving insurance and financial professionals who provide long-term care financing solutions.   For information on obtaining copies of the 2011 LTC Insurance Sourcebook call (818) 597-3227.

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 This represents a 53 percent increase over the daily value of claims paid by the same entities in 2007 according to study findings.  “Every single day, long-term care insurers pay benefits for home care, assisted living and nursing home care,” explains Jesse Slome, executive director of the national trade organization. 

“Benefits paid by just these leading insurers totaled nearly $4 billion for the year, an amount that will keep growing as more aging policyholders qualify for benefits from their coverage.”

The study examined claims-paying data for leading insurers that provide coverage to some 5.76 million individuals.  “During a typical 30-day timeframe, these insurers paid benefits to nearly 135,000 individuals,” Slome notes.  According to the Association’s 2010 LTC Insurance Sourcebook, some 31.0 percent of new individual claims are for home care services, 30.5 percent for assisted living and 38.5 percent for skilled nursing home care.

In 2007, the same entities participating in the study paid $7.0 million dollars in daily benefits according to the AALTCI report.  “As policyholders age the likelihood of needing costly long-term care increases as does the value of having this important protection,” Slome adds.  Some eight million Americans currently own long-term care insurance with about 350,000 new policies sold yearly.

For more information on long-term care insurance visit the Association’s online Consumer Information Center at http://www.aaltci.org/. 

2011 LONG-TERM CARE INSURANCE CLAIMS PAID REPORT

Data and information may be used with credit to the “American Association for Long-Term Care Insurance (www.aaltci.org)”.

For further information or for comments, contact Jesse Slome, executive director at (818) 597-3227

Study conducted January 2011

2010 CLAIMS PAID DATA

Number of Covered Lives:       5.76 million for study  (8.05 million industrywide, 2010)

Daily Value of Claims Paid:      $10.76 million  (based on a 365-day cycle)
Annual: Roughly $4 billion for these insurers ($6 billion industrywide est.)

Number of Claimants:               134,431  (individuals receiving claim benefit during a 30-day timeframe)

Percentage Increase (fr: 2007): 53%

2007 CLAIMS PAID DATA

Daily Value of Claims Paid:      $7.03 million  (based on a 365-day cycle)     Annual:  Roughly $2.6 billion for these insurers

The following leading long-term care insurance companies provided data for this report.   Included is data for individual as well as employer-sponsored plans.
Listed alphabetically.

Conseco / Bankers Life
Continental Casualty
Genworth Life
John Hancock
Metropolitan Life Insurance Company
Mutual of Omaha
Prudential Insurance Company of America
Thrivent Financial For Lutherans
Transamerica Life Insurance Co.
Unum Life Insurance

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Half of Americans aged 65 and older have prediabetes, and nearly 27 percent have diabetes.   Diabetes is the seventh leading cause of death in the United States.  Diabetes costs $174 billion annually, including $116 billion in direct medical expenses.

In addition, an estimated 79 million U.S. adults have prediabetes, a condition in which blood sugar levels are higher than normal, but not high enough to be diagnosed as diabetes.   Prediabetes raises a person’s risk of type 2 diabetes, heart disease and stroke explains Jesse Slome, executive director of the American Association for Long-Term Care Insurance .

Diabetes affects 8.3 percent of Americans of all ages, and 11.3 percent of adults aged 20 and older, according to the National Diabetes Fact Sheet for 2011. About 27 percent of those with diabetes—7 million Americans—do not know they have the disease. 

Prediabetes affects 35 percent of adults aged 20 and older.  In 2008, CDC estimated that 23.6 million Americans, or 7.8 percent of the population, had diabetes and another 57 million adults had prediabetes. The 2011 estimates have increased for several reasons:

 More people are developing diabetes.  Many people are living longer with diabetes, which raises the total number of those with the disease. Better management of the disease is improving cardiovascular disease risk factors and reducing complications such as kidney failure and amputations.

 Hemoglobin A1c is now used as a diagnostic test, and was therefore incorporated into calculations of national prevalence for the first time. The test, also called glycated hemoglobin, measures levels of blood glucose (sugar) over a period of two to three months. Because of this change, estimates of populations with diabetes and prediabetes in the 2011 fact sheet are not directly comparable to estimates in previous fact sheets.

In a study published last year, CDC projected that as many as 1 in 3 U.S. adults could have diabetes by 2050 if current trends continue. Type 2 diabetes, in which the body gradually loses its ability to use and produce insulin, accounts for 90 percent to 95 percent of diabetes cases. Risk factors for type 2 diabetes include older age, obesity, family history, having diabetes while pregnant (gestational diabetes), a sedentary lifestyle, and race/ethnicity. Groups at higher risk for the disease are African-Americans, Hispanics, American Indians/Alaska Natives, and some Asian-Americans and Pacific Islanders.

Half of Americans aged 65 and older have prediabetes, and nearly 27 percent have diabetes.   Diabetes is the seventh leading cause of death in the United States.  Diabetes costs $174 billion annually, including $116 billion in direct medical expenses.

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“For taxable years beginning in 2011, the limitations have been increased,” explains Jesse Slome, executive director of the American Association for Long-Term Care Insurance (AALTCI), the industry’s trade association. 

“Tax advantaged long-term care insurance remains one of the few remaining significant tax-savings benefits especially meaningful for small business owners.”

The deductible limits under Section 213(d)(10) for eligible long-term care premiums includable in the term ‘medical care’ are as follows:

Attained Age Before Close of Taxable Year     

2011 Deductible Limits
40 or less        $   340
More than 40 but not more than 50      $   640
More than 50 but not more than 60      $1,270
More than 60 but not more than 70      $3,390
More than 70  $4,240

Source:  IRS Revenue Procedure 2010-40

The American Association for Long-Term Care Insurance (http://www.aaltci.org/) is the national association serving insurance and financial professionals who provide long-term care financing solutions.  A complete explanation of tax deductible rules for individuals and business owners can be found on the Association’s website:  http://www.aaltci.org/tax .

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“These findings could help scientists to better understand and ultimately prevent a range of age-related diseases in humans.” according to Jesse Slome, executive diirector of the organization.  “When you live a long life however you are far more likely to need long term care.”

The research was conducted by scientists at the British Society for Research on Ageing at Newcastle University.

Working with the theory that cell senescence – the point at which a cell can no longer replicate – is a major cause of ageing the researchers set out to investigate what effect a restricted diet had on this process. By looking at mice fed a restricted diet the team found that they had a reduced accumulation of senescent cells in their livers and intestines. Both organs are known to accumulate large numbers of these cells as animals age.

Alongside this the CISBAN scientists also found that the telomeres of the chromosomes of the mice on restricted diets were better maintained despite their ageing. Telomeres are the protective ‘ends’ of chromosomes that prevent errors, and therefore diseases, occurring as DNA replicates throughout an organisms lifetime but they are known to become ‘eroded’ over time.

The adult mice were fed a restricted diet for a short period of time demonstrating that it may not be necessary to follow a very low calorie diet for a lifetime to gain the benefits the scientists found.

Researchers looked at parts of the body that easily show biological signs of ageing, suggests that a restricted diet can help to reduce the amount of cell senescence occurring and can reduce damage to protective telomeres. In turn this prevents the accumulation of damaging tissue oxidation which would normally lead to age-related disease.

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According to a research abstract presented at the annual meeting of the Associated Professional Sleep Societies participants who reported a habitual daily sleep duration of eight hours or more including naps were 15 percent more likely to have metabolic syndrome. 

This relationship remained unchanged after full adjustment for potential confounders such as demographics, lifestyle and sleep habits, and metabolic markers. Removing participants with potential ill health from the analysis slightly attenuated the observed association. Although participants who reported a short sleep duration of less than six hours were 14 percent more likely to have metabolic syndrome in the initial analysis, this association disappeared after controlling for potential confounders.

Researchers noted that the most surprising aspect of the study was that long sleep – and not short sleep – was related to the presence of the metabolic syndrom.

The study involved over 29,000 adults, making it the largest study to assess the relationship between sleep duration and the presence of metabolic syndrome. Participants were 50 years of age or older. Total sleep duration was reported by questionnaire.

We can recommend that long sleepers reduce the amount of overall sleep they achieve, which may in turn have beneficial effects on their health one medical expert noted. Programs can be developed to modify sleep in an attempt to reduce the health burden on elderly populations, who are already at higher risk of disease.

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