Long Term Care Insurance Survey- Broker World Magazine

At the risk of sounding geeky, I eagerly anticipate the release of each year’s Long Term Care Insurance Survey in Broker World Magazine. I have a little over a decade of experience in the long term care insurance industry. I compiled some of my favorite information from the 27-page report that ran in the July issue, and you can find it below (all numbers refer to sales in 2013).
The 2008 survey reported there were about 45 insurers selling stand-alone individual or group LTC insurance. Now there are 16.
The LTC insurance industry incurred $7.7 billion in claims in 2012, much of it paid by insurers that no longer sell LTC insurance. The industry has paid $81.2 billion of claims since 1991.
Industry new policy sales were down 22.9% when compared to the prior year and when measured by the number of new lives insured.
Companies participating in the study reported only 30 cases in which insureds invoked the Independent Review provision in their policies, and the insurers’ denials have been upheld 80 percent of the time.
Of all claims on individual policies in 2013, 39% are receiving nursing home care, 25% are in assisted living facilities, and 36% are for home care or adult day programs.
The average claim paid – since inception – is $48,211 for individual policies. Care in assisted living facilities incur the highest claims payments on average. The survey speculated this is at least partially due to the fact that many cognitive claimants use assisted living for their care.
If you have a question about any aspect of long term care insurance claims, I am standing by to help!

https://www.ltcipartners.com/downloadfiles/2014_Broker_World_LTC_Survey.pdf