Almost half of Medicare beneficiaries have either one or two disabilities. The disability risk among seniors is important information for two reasons. The first is that disabilities are a key risk that aging Americans face resulting in the need for costly care. And second, because once someone has a disability, they generally can not qualify for long-term care insurance.

The latest data is highly relevant and important to share prior to turning 65 recommends the American Association for Long-Term Care Insurance. Living a long life means the likelihood of needing aide – and that’s where planning is important.

The data reflected seniors 65 and older who had difficulty hearing, seeing, remembering, dressing or bathing. These are Activities of Daily Living used to qualify for benefits under a traditional long-term care insurance policy.

Disability Risk Among Seniors 85-Plus

The risk of disabilities grows as one ages. Research indicates that among those aged 85 and older, approximately 25% have one disability.

Top-10 Disability Risk Among Seniors

The prevalence of disability among older adults is significantly influenced by various health conditions. As individuals age, they become more susceptible to chronic diseases and disabilities that can impact their daily functioning and quality of life. Based on the information provided, the following are the 10 leading causes of disability after age 65:

1. Arthritis or Rheumatism: This condition affects joints and connective tissues, leading to pain, stiffness, and decreased mobility. It is one of the most common causes of disability in older adults.
2. Back or Spine Problems: Issues related to the back and spine, such as degenerative disc disease or spinal stenosis, can result in chronic pain and limitations in movement.
3. Heart Trouble: Cardiovascular diseases can lead to significant functional impairments due to heart failure or other heart-related issues.
4. Lung or Respiratory Problems: Conditions like chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) can severely limit physical activity and overall health.
5. Mental or Emotional Problems: Mental health conditions such as depression or anxiety can affect cognitive function and daily activities.
6. Diabetes: This metabolic disorder can lead to various complications that affect mobility and overall health.
7. Deafness or Hearing Problems: Hearing loss can impact communication abilities and social interactions, contributing to isolation and disability.
8. Blindness or Vision Problems: Visual impairments significantly affect independence and the ability to perform daily tasks safely.
9. Stroke: A stroke can lead to long-term disabilities affecting mobility, speech, and cognitive functions.
10. Cancer: Various types of cancer may cause disabilities either directly through the disease itself or indirectly through treatments that impair physical function.

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2024 Long-Term Care Insurance Claims Data

A just-published report from the Connecticut Partnership for Long-Term Care Insurance can provide some valuable insights explains Jesse Slome, director of the American Association for Long-Term Care Insurance.

“Thankfully Connecticut remains the only state that publishes current and highly relevant data regarding long-term care insurance,” declares Jesse Slome, AALTCI director. “Information is essential to educating people about the value of this protection and reasons to consider it as part of their longevity planning. And 2024 long term care insurance claims data is unbelievably helpful to those marketing this valuable protection.”

According to Slome, the data looked at some 37,201 policies in force. “For me, the key data I look for is claimant data,” Slome explains. “People want to know if owning long-term care insurance pays. By pays, they mean, do insurers pay benefits, at what ages and how much?”

“Of the 6,878 total claimants, 60 percent represented care by a home health aide or a home visit by skilled nursing,” Slome points out. “Only 34 percent of claims were for nursing home and 29 percent for assisted living. I like to share with reporters and consumers that this is really nursing home avoidance protection and the numbers validate that.”

2024 Claims Data

Number of Policyholders who have qualified to receive benefit payments: 6,878

Gender of Claimant:  59% Female – 41 % Male

Marital Status:  51% Married – 41% Not Married – 8% Unknown

Average Age at Policy Purchase:  64

Age at Time of Claim:  Mean: 81     (Range 31  to 103)

Amount Paid To Date: Least ($19) – Most ($2,647,545)

Type of Service (top categories only)
Home Health Aide – 53%
Nursing Home – 27%
Assisted Living Facility – 29%
Skilled Nursing (Home Visit) 7%

Data from CT Partnership for Long-Term Care statistical report published September 16, 2024.

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Costs for traditional long-term care insurance coverage are level compared to the prior year according to the 2024 Long-Term Care Insurance Price Index released today by the American Association for Long-Term Care Insurance.

“In some cases, prices decreased a little compared to the prior year,” states Jesse Slome, directory of the national organization that advocates for the importance of long-term care planning. “The declines were minimal and there were a few instances where costs rose but again the increases were nominal.”

According to the organization’s 2024 Price Index report, a couple, both age 55, who each obtain long-term care protection valued at $800,000 (total) for their needs at age 85 can expect to pay around $5,000 annually.

“This couple could pay as little as $2,080 combined if they opted for policies that did not include any future growth of benefits,” Slome acknowledges.  “Adding a 3 percent annual inflation growth factor increases their cost to $5,025-per-year. Selecting coverage that will grow at 5 percent annually increases their cost to almost $8,600 annually.”

While prices for traditional long-term care insurance offerings remained relatively level, the same was not true for linked benefit policies.

“Costs for linked benefit products are substantially lower compared to a year ago” reports the long-term care insurance expert.  “The linked-benefit market is more competitive and life insurers clearly are looking to capture more premium. Rising interest rates provided them with an opportunity to offer reduced premium costs,” Slome explains.

According to the 2024 Long-Term Care Insurance Price Index, a single 55-year-old male purchasing a life plus LTC policy providing around $520,000 of potential long-term care benefits at age 90 could expect to pay $5,022 in annual premiums. The Association’s 2023 Price Index reported that same coverage would have cost $5,600. Access the 2023 LTC Price Index at https://www.aaltci.org/long-term-care-insurance/learning-center/ltcfacts-2023.php.

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

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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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“Premiums for buyers are virtually identical to last year; some are actually slightly lower,” reports Jesse Slome, director of the organization.  “However, the spread between the lowest and highest prices for basically identical policy coverage has grown.”

According to the annual analysis, a 55-year-old male purchasing $165,000 of immediate benefits could expect to pay $900 a year. In 2022, the organization reported premium costs of $950. This year, adding an inflation growth option that increased available benefit levels by 3 percent yearly would cost $2,100, a $100 decline from the prior year. “The additional cost reflects the fact that policy benefits will be worth over $400,000 at age 85 and even more if care is needed after that,” Slome explains.

Women continue to pay significantly more for long-term care insurance. “Costs for a 55-year-old female applicant purchasing the same level of benefits would be $1,500 and $3,600,” Slome shares. A year earlier the premiums reported in the analysis were $1,500 and $3,700 respectively.

The 2023 Long-Term Care Insurance Price Index reports available costs for men, women and couples at ages 55, 60 and 65. “We strive to show that there isn’t one fixed option and that coverage can be less costly than many people perceive,” Slome adds. “We show multiple levels of inflation protection which, while important, will significantly add to the yearly cost of coverage.”

Adding a 3 percent inflation growth option to base coverage tends to double the premium cost according to AALTCI. “It will be interesting to see how consumers now deal with concerns about future inflation,” Slome says. “And, will rising interest rates give one or more insurers incentive to actually lower premiums going forward?”

The most notable difference from prior reports is the spread in costs between the lowest and highest priced policies on the market. “In some cases, one insurer literally charges more than twice the cost of another for virtually identical coverage,” Slome reports. “I am not sure what accounts for such a significant difference but it reinforces our belief that in 2023 consumer should do comparison shopping before making a decision.”

To see the 2023 Long-Term Care Insurance Price Index information for traditional LTCi policies, go to https://www.aaltci.org/long-term-care-insurance/learning-center/ltcfacts-2023.php. The organization will add comparisons for linked benefit policies later this month.

The American Association for Long-Term Care Insurance (AALTCI) advocates for the importance of long-term care planning. Since 1998 AALTCI has supported insurance professionals who market both traditional and hybrid long-term care solutions.  To access information, go to https://www.aaltci.org or call the organization at 818-597-3227.

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“Claim benefit payouts for policyholders with traditional long-term care insurance coverage grew from $12.3 Billion in 2021,” reports Jesse Slome, AALTCI’s director.  “The increase in benefit payouts is expected as policyholders age and start to require care.” For calendar-year 2018 the Association reported that long-term care insurers paid out $10.3 Billion.

According to Slome, the amount reported represents claims for those owning traditional or health-based long-term care insurance.  “Data for linked-benefit policies is harder to calculate because there are so many different variations of these policies,” Slome acknowledges. “Certainly, some of these policies are paying out benefits for those needing long-term care but the value may still be nominal.”

For 2022, the Association reports that benefits were paid to about 345,000 policyholders. “This represents an increase over the prior year,” Slome shares. For 2021 AALTCI reported benefits were paid to 336,000 claimants. During the calendar-year 2018, AALTCI data reported 303,000 policyholders received claim benefits.

“Long-term care insurance benefits are mostly paid to individuals who receive benefits for qualifying care in their own home or in an assisted living facility,” Slome points out. “Benefits also are paid when policyholders require care in skilled nursing home settings.” The AALTCI data is gathered and corroborated with leading industry actuaries including historical average annual growth rates from the last 10 years from companies’ year-end reporting data.

The American Association for Long-Term Care Insurance (AALTCI) advocates for the importance of long-term care planning. Since 1998 AALTCI has supported insurance professionals who market both traditional and hybrid long-term care solutions.  To access information, go to https://www.aaltci.org or call the organization at 818-597-3227.

The post Paid Long-Term Care Insurance 2022 Claims Grow appeared first on American Association for Long Term Care Insurance.

“Inflation is not the cause of rate increases,” cites Jesse Slome, director of the organization. “There are a variety of factors that make it necessary for insurers to raise rates on older long-term care policies. We wanted a current resource that provides consumers with updated and relevant information.”

According to Slome, insurers have been filing rate increase requests on certain classes of older policies. “The largest requests are associated with policies that included unlimited or lifetime benefits as well as those with a 5 percent compounded inflation growth factor.”

The Association’s website reports that 29% of rate increases were between 10 and 19% with 31% between 20 and 29%. “We do hear of significantly larger requests,” Slome notes. “We understand that people are upset when they are notified about rate increases but there are always options to mitigate the circumstances.”

The long-term care Association reports the between 50 and 60% of policyholders chose to pay the increase and keep their original policy provisions. “Clearly they are older and realize the value of what they purchased as well as the fact that they likely could no longer obtain long-term care insurance at any price,” Slome explains.

To learn more about long-term care insurance rate increases visit the Association’s updated information center.

The American Association for Long-Term Care Insurance (AALTCI) advocates for the importance of long-term care planning and supports insurance professionals who market both traditional and hybrid long-term care solutions.  To connect to a specialist for long-term care insurance costs call 818-597-3227.

The post Long-Term Care Insurance Rate Increase Data Shared By Association appeared first on American Association for Long Term Care Insurance.

“More than 201,000 residents and staff of long-term care facilities died from Covid, about 23 percent of all deaths which is a staggering number,” declares Jesse Slome, director of the American Association for Long-Term Care Insurance.  ”People never wanted to go to nursing homes and Covid is only making people more aware that this is not a desirable option.”

“When care is needed, people want to remain in their own home, something the long-term care insurance industry has known for decades,” Slome admits.  “But everything associated with the product category focuses on skilled care with home care listed as a secondary benefit that is included.  Try selling that something people don’t want and, oh yes, charging a whole lot of money for it.”

Nursing Home Avoidance Protection

Instead, the long-term care insurance expert has advocated positioning long-term care insurance as ‘nursing home avoidance protection.’  “You buy this coverage for the very simple reason that you do not want to go into a nursing home,” he states.  “In fact, I wish State regulators would allow individuals to buy home care insurance protection with minimal benefits for skilled care, similar to what some short-term care policies permit.”

Slome points to the failed Washington Cares program as an example.  “While there were flaws in the effort, the State clearly understood the desire and need for a benefit that paid for home care,” Slome explains.  “Long-term care facilities do everything they can to safely serve individuals and I am confident will continue to do so.”

“If long-term care insurance is to ever become a viable option for more than a very small percentage of individuals, things need to change,” Slome advocates.  “Part of that change I believe needs to be a re-branding of the category and Covid certainly provides a great opportunity to do that.”

Covid Deaths Data

The data comes from a just-published study from the Kaiser Family Foundation.  According to the report, residents and staff of long-term care facilities accounted for 201,000 Covid deaths.  That amounted to about 23 percent of all deaths (680,000).  The report acknowledged the number could be even higher due to under-reporting.  At the inception of the pandemic, nearly half of all deaths occurred in long-term care facilities.

The American Association for Long-Term Care Insurance (AALTCI) advocates for the importance of long-term care planning and supports insurance professionals who market both traditional and hybrid LTC solutions.  To access the latest long-term care insurance statistics regarding need and insurance, visit the Association’s Data Center at www/aaltci.org/LTCFacts-2022/.

To obtain long-term care insurance costs from a long-term care insurance specialist call the organization at 818-597-3227 or visit their website www.aaltci.org.

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“Total national expenditures are predicted to grow to $266.2 billion by 2028,” states Jesse Slome, director of the American Association for Long-Term Care Insurance.  ”That is a 58 percent increase from the latest actual reported expenditure of $168.5 billion for 2018.”

The report predicts the national growth of expenditures for nursing care facilities as well as Continuing Care Retirement Communities.  “Total expenditures are expected to reach $210.7 billion in 2023,” Slome shared.  “The concerning aspect is that out-of-pocket expenses are expected to grow from $44.8 billion (2018) to $52.7 billion in 2023.  By 2028, out-of-pocket expenses that will be imposed on families is projected to reach $59.4 billion.”

Nursing Home Care Expenditures Data

Increased costs will account for some of the increase Slome acknowledges.  “So will the increase in the number of aging Americans who will need care,” he adds.  “The reality is that people age and need care.  When they do, someone will be facing bills.”

The Association director shared that the percentage of costs expected to be paid by Medicaid will grow.  “Nearly $50 billion was paid by Medicaid in 2018,” Slome shared.  “The projection for 2028 is that the cost will rise to $73 billion, a 59.1 percent increase.  Is this financially feasible, only time will tell.”

Slome suggested that insurance agents drip continuing information to their clients starting around age 50.  “Educating consumers is paramount to the process of creating awareness of the risk and need,” Slome advised.  “Government reports of projected out-of-pocket risks that will face individuals comes with added trust factors and can be a most valuable tool to use.”

Access Latest Long-Term Care Insurance Statistics 

The American Association for Long-Term Care Insurance (AALTCI) advocates for the importance of long-term care planning and supports insurance professionals who market both traditional and hybrid LTC solutions.  To access the latest data regarding long-term care need and insurance, visit the Association’s Data Center at www/aaltci.org/LTCFacts-2022/.

To obtain long-term care insurance costs from a long-term care insurance specialist call the organization at 818-597-3227 or visit their website www.aaltci.org.

The post Out-Of-Pocket Costs For Nursing Home Care Expenditures To Grow appeared first on American Association for Long Term Care Insurance.

“Short-term care insurance is one of the best kept secrets for men and women who have issues when it comes to long-term care insurance planning,” states Jesse Slome, director of the American Association for Long-Term Care Insurance.

“It is the ideal option for those who cannot health qualify, or those who are too old or who merely want a lower-cost option.”

Short-term care insurance policies are available in many states.

This special form of protection can provide similar benefits to traditional long-term care insurance.  While traditional long-term care insurance companies generally stop accepting applications after age 75, short-term care policies may be purchased up to age 85.

“Polices can pay for care at home as well as in skilled settings such as nursing homes,” Slome explains.  “There are some significant differences and even some advantages that make this an option worth considering.”

The long-term care insurance expert notes that short-term care insurance policies are generally simpler to health-qualify for.  “There are plans with just a few health-related questions,” Slome adds.  “Many older men and women have some existing health issues that make them ineligible for traditional long-term care insurance.  Short-term care coverage may be just what the doctor ordered.”

Short-term care insurance policies generally charge women the same premium as men according to Slome.  “That can be a significant advantage especially for older women on their own,” he notes.  Traditional LTC insurance policies generally charge women around 30-to-40 percent more than men.

The Association’s 1-Minute Primer provides an overview of the benefits of these policies.  A map showing states where the policies are available is included.  Pricing examples for both men and women ages 65 and 75 are shown.

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 access the short-term care insurance information, visit the organization’s website at https://www.aaltci.org/short-term-care-insurance/.   To obtain short-term care insurance costs from a specialist in both short-term and long-term care insurance call the organization at 818-597-3227 or visit their website www.aaltci.org.

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