Long-term insurance: Not all qualify; those who do pay high rates
From Crain’s Detroit:
To reduce their financial risk, most insurers have tightenedunderwriting standards for long-term care insurance. Many plans now refuse to cover patients withinsulin-dependent diabetes, Alzheimer’s disease or a history of strokes.
And those who do qualify often face hefty annual premiums. In 2002, apolicy offering a $150 daily benefit for four years, with a 90-daydeductible and protection against inflation, cost an average of $1,134for a 50-year-old, $2,346 for a 65-year-old and $7,572 for a79-year-old, according to American’s Health Insurance Plans, a Washington-based trade association.
To minimize the sticker shock, insurers have been rolling out moreflexible plans that let customers choose from an array of optionsrelated to the benefit term, daily benefits, deductibles and inflationprotection. Others are adding case-management services and other bellsand whistles to make their products attractive to a broader swath ofcustomers.
Ed.: Private long term case insurance is not presently a solution to the long term care crisis we face as a nation over the course of the next forty five years. Period.