Very soon, the PREMIUM on my "long term care" insurance will go up from $200.00 a month to $470.00 a month!?

Q: The existing company is dropping the group, and the company picking up the group charges much more. What are your thoughts about "long term care" insurance? I am 72 years old and in good health.

Best Answer: A fee-only financial planner (who charges for advice but does not stand to gain make money based on their recommendation) should be able to help you out after a quick review of your situation. Their fee for a single issue like this should be much less than the cost of making the wrong decision.

You will also avoid poorly informed advice or opinions, like those who believe Medicare will ever pay for more than 100 days of Long-Term Care and is not designed to pay for custodial care at all. You need the advice of someone who is familiar with LTC and your specific situation and concerns.


A2: Even if you're in good health now you cannot predict what can happen in the future. Long term care insurance will cover what Medicare won't after 100 days of incapacitation. If you are unable to perform at least two of your daily activities such as feeding youself, going to the bathroom, etc. with your LTC coverage you're able to pay someone to help care for you which can be very costly without that coverage. LTC is not only for the elderly, it's also a good thing to have when you're young. Many youngsters are currently being rehabilitated from major accidents, etc. but there are many who can't afford the rehabilitation.

If you can afford to keep the coverage you should do that. The $470 a month can't compare to what it would cost you if you didn't have the insurance.


A3: Let this be a lesson to everyone as to why you don't buy group insurance. This also happens to association groups. Sure they can't drop you individually, but they can drop the whole group....especially when they didn't charge the right amount to begin with.

The other issue is that the new company is charging what they NOW charge. Insurance rates for new customers have skyrocketed in the last handful of years. What a couple used to pay for long term care insurance is now what an individual pays.

Individual plans can go up too which is why you want to stick with the main carriers who offer the coverage OR lock in a 10-pay plan (pay it all over 10 years) so you never have to pay again.

A good long term care insurance broker can find you a good...individual plan. There's no sense in going back to the group if you're healthy and end up in the same position five years from now.

I'd love to know the insurance company (new and old) and if it's not too much information the company that you work(ed) at. If you need help finding a broker let me know as I have many associates that do this coverage from coast to coast.

Also, individual coverage should have been cheaper from the start. I rarely see a group LTC policy that's better/cheaper than one available to an individual. If you're not in as good of health then the group can make more sense, but if you're healthy it's usually not a good deal for you....your example is why.