Hopefully we’ll hear about the partnership program rolling out to different states as well as the lack of income protection with those. However, I think the partnership program is definitely good for the middle class where an unlimited plan is too cost prohibitive, but people want to keep the assets they’ve worked hard to accumulate. Especially IN and NY’s total asset disregard, but I would understand if only dollar for dollar was covered.

Great start Jeremy and I look forward to future posts about LTCi… now if I could just get you to post on another large problem with the working class as I commented a couple weeks ago. Disability and going into how group policies are a good start, but not all that’s really needed. A discussion on the need, what the market looks like today (the lack of people covered), what the current DI payouts consist of (only 10% are from injury/poisoning (according to John Hewitt & Assoc’s 2002 U.S. Group Disability Rate Study & Risk Management Survey) and the gap that exists in group plans would be a good start much like this article is a good start to LTCi.

A couple disturbing facts that highlight this need include the following:

Disability is the cause of nearly half of all home foreclosures. (Source: Compton Insurance Marketing, 2002)

72% of the private sector workforce has no long-term disability insurance. (Source: Social Security Basic Facts, July 2004)

There’s much more, but my post is getting too long.

Thank you Jeremy for your constant work on informing people and I look forward to your future posts.

Another issue that I argued with the insurers was that if you are taking any Alzheimers preventative medication you are automatically turned down, regardless of family history. There is a disconnect between physicians and the LTC industry. The insurers believe you wouldn’t be taking medication unless there was a need, while doctors are prescribing these drugs like vitamin supplements. The doctors take the stance that the drugs have some benefit and since we don’t know what causes Alzheimers disease we can’t target who is likely to get it, so everyone who asks for a prescription will get one. There’s no solid proof that vitamin supplements make you healthier, but people take them just the same.

Another area to be concerned about is that these are insurance companies. People seldom read their policies and I heard of one insurance company on a financial radio show that changed their retirement variable annuities to where you have to be 112 years old to collect on them. I haven’t seen a LTC policy that crazy, but you can bet that as more people start to cash in, and the policies become less profitable to the insurers they will engage in all kinds of contract trickery to get out of paying. Buyer beware.

Second, you’re banking on the medical community’s failures when they’ve given us nothing but successes. I have no idea what I will look like at 70, but if Viagra is any indication, I can sort of count on medicine doing everything possible to keep me “young” for longer.

Lastly, right now, I am unwilling to invest in banks. Banks! Investment in LTC for a situation that’s three decades in my future is just a little too prophetic for my taste. A lot can happen in that time.

From what I see in the comment, the real issue is a desire that our parents had LTC right now, but our purchasing LTC won’t fix that. The damage will have to just be done, and then we’ll soldier on, pick up the pieces, fix the system, and move on–but I just don’t see how, right now, one can invest in that future system as I don’t think it yet exists.

I used to think medicare or medicaid would be available if necessary. Little did I know how little coverage these actually provide (or will they even be available when I hit retirement in another 30 years!) You either have to be dirt poor (medicaid) or only need very temporary non-custodial care (medicare). If I can, I would like to share a guide I came across that discusses LTC insurance quite well, in plain english. Check it out here – http://www.ltcconnects.com/resources/?page=consumer. It’s the one titled “Dignity for Life”. It’s worth a quick browse if anything.