Consumer Reports and Long Term Care Insurance
Consumer Reports Magazine and ConsumerReports.org are known for their insightful knowledge of seemingly all products and services. In a recent report on Long Term Care Insurance, Consumer Reports focused their attention on the entire LTCI industry and product, from top to bottom, and provided characteristic insight in the form of advice aimed especially at consumers currently shopping for Long Term Care Insurance. The advice was broken down into the following sections:
1. Look for a strong insurer. In other words, Consumer Reports suggests looking for companies with an A+ or better financial rating provided by the financial stability rating companies such as AM Best, Moodys, Standard & Poors, and Weiss Rating.
At LTCtree, we have found that these rating companies indeed do their homework. They have consistently provided ratings that were good precursors to spotting suspect companies who later had financial woes. It is important to remember that a Long Term Care Insurance policy is ONLY as good as the company behind it.
2. Include inflation protection in your Long Term Care Insurance policy. Consumer Reports points out that most consumers buy this insurance in their 40′s and 50′s, and they might not use the benefits for thirty or forty years. A built-in, or automatic, 5% compound inflation protection option means, for example, that a $4000/month in benefits policy today will grow to about $18,000/month in thirty years. In other words, your benefits grow automatically if you have inflation protection, yet your premiums do not.
3. A four-year benefit period plan should be sufficient. Consumer Reports states that 90% of people over the age of 65 who need Long Term Care ONLY need it for five years or less.
4. Shop around by getting quotes from at least three different long term care insurance companies. Prices can vary significantly from company to company based on age and combination of benefits.
This last piece of advice is especially where LTCtree.com can help. In fact, LTCtree.com’s very foundation is helping consumers compare long term care insurance companies. We are independent brokers for all the A+ name brand companies such as John Hancock, MetLife, and Prudential. We can give you the apples-to-apples comparison Consumer Reports says you should get. Simply fill out the form below and we’ll get your quotes in the mail usually within 24 hours.
