Education Needed For Long-Term Care Insurance
Main Category: Health Insurance / Medical InsuranceAlso Included In: Seniors / Aging
Article Date: 11 Jun 2008 - 1:00 PDT
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No one likes to think about relying on long-term care. But the reality is that any person could fall victim to a disability or need chronic care because of aging. New research from Mintel suggests that many Americans are not prepared for these possibilities.
In a new report, Mintel found that less than 60% of adults are familiar with long-term care insurance. Furthermore, three-quarters (74%) do not currently have any type of long-term care coverage. Almost one in five state they don't know why they haven't purchased a long-term care policy or that they "don't know anything about it."
"Overall, Americans are not educated about long-term care insurance policies and their benefits," comments Susan Menke, senior analyst at Mintel. "Many people either don't want to confront the issue of aging or they view long-term care insurance as too expensive and unnecessary."
Mintel's consumer survey found that cost is the primary reason people don't purchase long-term care insurance. Forty-two percent of survey respondents said they haven't purchased it because "it is too expensive." Other common deterrents include the belief they won't ever need long-term care (17%) or that its costs will be covered by Medicare or Medicaid (15%). Finally, 13% of respondents say they would like to purchase it but they just haven't gotten around to it yet.
"Insurers need to educate the public about long-term care insurance's value," recommends Menke. "Over two-thirds of the people we surveyed who had long-term care insurance purchased policies because they didn't want to burden others with their care. This is a powerful motivation that insurers can emphasize when discussing long-term care insurance's benefits."
Menke looks to direct mail, popular in the long-term care insurance industry, as an effective way to educate consumers. Mintel Comperemedia data shows that in the first six months of 2007, estimated mail volume for long-term care insurance exceeded 15 million pieces per month. "With its time-trusted format, direct mail can be a very effective vehicle for informational guides, cost breakdowns and customized advice explaining long-term care insurance," states Menke.
About Mintel
Mintel is a leading global supplier of consumer, product and media intelligence. For more than 35 years, Mintel has provided insight into key worldwide trends, offering unique data that directly impacts client success. Mintel Comperemedia is a competitive media monitoring service that analyzes direct mail, email and print advertising trends. With offices in Chicago, London, Belfast, Sydney, Shanghai and Tokyo, Mintel has forged a unique reputation as a world-renowned business brand.
http://www.mintel.com
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MLA
15 Feb. 2012. <http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/110657.php>
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http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/110657.php.
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It's INSURANCE, The Push For Long-term Care Insurance
posted by Conoutofconsumer on 11 Jun 2008 at 6:41 amWhy does an article about "educating" the public omit any mention of the Pension Protection Act of 2006? That law makes provision for the inclusion of long term care insurance riders to annuity contracts and life insurance policies (so that those policies are used to buy the l/t insurance).
As recently as January 1, I mentioned this law on my blog because it's purpose (to get people to fund their own costs of medical services to relieve Medicare/Medicaid) and its timing (now is the time when the law kicks in) indicated to me enough to make the following prediction:
"Subtitle D addresses Health and Medical Benefits and sections 841-845 are particularly relevant to insurance. Modifications to laws should be read with a clear view to their intent. Health law modifications are moving towards privatization (we are empowered to expect nothing from the government we've paid into all our lives because THAT's capitalism). The red flags to watch for are the spin of how the Medicaid and Medicare systems will run dry if we don't do something (raiding those budgets for other governmental dollars needs clearly is not addressed) and how only loser, commie, moochers would accept participation in government health insurance."
While selling the l/t care product to consumers, it's also interesting that no mention of the key feature: This is an insurance policy and insurance policies look to NOT pay because that's how they make their money. All the variables that create issues in the current insurance environment including getting a response from the insurance company, claims denials, delayed reimbursements, exclusions, apply to long term care policies with the added difficulty presented by the fact that someone else usually has to fight to get your insurance benefits because long term care kicks in when you're in a medically compromised state.
Instead of talking about how to "sell" these policies to the public because the Pension Protection Act has created an opportunity for easily obtaining payment for such policies from other products (life insurance and annuity), it would be good to see companies stop selling air at a premium rate through iron-clad guarantees that people will be able to get the coverage they think they're getting. However, that would cut into the sales of these contracts and is therefore unlikely to occur in this environment where the answer to having insufficient "insurance" is to buy MORE "insurance" which used to be called throwing good money after bad.
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