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Sales Rising for State-Approved Long-Term Care Insurance
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Business New Haven
4/17/2000
By: John Florian
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HARTFORD - More people than ever are buying state-approved long-term care insurance policies to defray the staggering costs of living in a nursing home or receiving home care. Indeed, more of these policies were purchased in 1999 than in the first five years the policies were offered by the Connecticut Partnership for Long-Term Care.
For the record, policy sales topped 4,000 last year, and the 1,400 applications submitted in the fourth quarter marked the highest number for a single quarter in the group's eight-year history.
The partnership is an alliance of state government and private insurance carriers. The insurers offer policies through the state partnership program, which today accounts for about 30 percent of all long-term care policies sold in Connecticut, according to Mary Pettigrew, the group's assistant director. The partnership approves, but does not actually sell, the policies.
Partnership policyholders enjoy more state-mandated benefits than offered by other long-term care policies from private insurers. These extras include inflation protection, a broad range of home services and minimum benefit levels.
Yet the “most unique factor,” according to Pettigrew, is Medicaid asset protection. This feature “keeps people from having to impoverish themselves to pay for long-term care,” she says, referring to the Medicaid requirement that recipients cannot hold more than $1,600 in assets.
People should also keep an eye on minimum benefit levels when buying policies, Pettigrew points out. For instance, in Connecticut, she explains, long-term care expenses can soar to more than $76,000 per year. That's more than $200 a day. But some policies pay only $50 a day. The partnership's required minimum payment is $120 per day.
While pleased with the growth in purchases of its policies, group officials say their work has just begun. “The fact remains that only a small fraction of the population is familiar with, or owns, long-term care insurance,” says Director David J. Guttchen. According to government statistics, less than one percent of the population is protected this way, he adds.
That will be tough on the estimated 43 percent of the population over age 65 who will need nursing home care - and the many more who will get care at home. For details about the partnership, call 800-547-3443 or visit www.CTpartnership.org.
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