It’s is that time of year again. The time when “the industry” pushes out another LTC Awareness Month series of messages and carriers roll out campaigns talking about the long term care and the need to solve the funding dilemma.
Every year, it is the same old thing. And every year, we yield the same old results – the market for long term care insurance does not expand. Well, maybe we are doing something wrong.
In my humble opinion, we are doing a whole lot of things wrong. But, I cannot change cultural or political perceptions. Instead, I want to share with you this … LTC Awareness Month should not exist — LTC Awareness should be a daily effort.
How often do you hear about long term care or care planning during the course of the year? If you are like me, you hear it on the radio or television pitching home care agencies. And, that’s it.
How often do consumers hear about buying the latest, greatest annuity or reverse mortgage? Hourly …. what is wrong with this?
EVERYTHING!!!!
We need to start infusing the LTC conversation in all of our client conversation. Sure, it my be unpleasant, but it is necessary!
We have a healthcare crisis in America and the older population bears the brunt of the impact. Often, they lose every penny that they’ve worked for and their families end up making personal sacrifices along the way.
Imagine if they had a plan in place (not a policy) but a plan to address how they want to address a long term care situation. It wouldn’t hurt to have a policy to fund their plan but a plan is an important place to start.
Remember, at OneAmerica we offer a great stand-alone piece called The Step-by-Step Guide to Receiving Long Term Care. I encourage you to download it then contact my internal Justin Fox to order a dozen for you to share with your clients to start the planning conversation.
Here are a few numbers that are meant to make you take action …
Every day until 2030, 10,000 people turn 65.
According to the CDC, in 2018, 38% of people in residential care were between ages 65 & 84; 55% were over 85; and 67% were female.
Long term care services are paid for by (2019 numbers):
- Medicaid – $129 billion
- Medicare – $87.5 billion
- Consumer out of pocket – $63.4 billion
- Private Insurance – $35.3 billion
Clearly , you can see a problem here. There is too much reliance on public funding and not nearly enough funding from insurance.
We need to flip that ratio where Medicaid and Medicare spending is far less than private insurance which provides the most effective and efficient solution for paying for long term care services.
Drop the LTC month dialog and start a daily LTC dialog.
For ideas how to fund long term care services with OneAmerica, call me.
Thanks for making time for me.
Please contact us with your next long term care case. I can be reached via email at kevin.fisher@oneamerica.com or you can call me at (678) 512-9627. You can also speak with my internal Justin Fox by calling him at (844) 658-3725.
Fridays with Fisher 